The article presents a thorough analysis of a number of concepts related to the possession of legal knowledge. Legal awareness is necessary for everyone given the presumption of knowledge of the law. Semantic, etymological, elemental, formallogical analysis of the terms has been carried out, the criteria for their distinction and the characteristic features have been highlighted.It has been demonstrated that legal education is mostly aimed at theoretical familiarization with legal reality, that is, it is primarily a way of spreading and transferring basic legal knowledge to subjects. Legal nurture is distinguished by a significantly deepened influence on value aspects, humanistic legal ideas, an effort to form respect for law. Legal awareness is characterized by the «ability to act», the ability and willingness to exercise or protect one’s rights. The authors note that Ukraine is at a difficult stage of transition to a new formation which is no longer based on subjective rights and declarative slogans but on real values such as human dignity and the rule of law. And their rooting in social and individual legal consciousness is possible only through awareness as possession and constant access to legal information its analysis through synthesis as critical productive thinking and legal capacity as a conscious ability to achieve the necessary legal result. Critical thinking is inherent in a level of freedom that recognizes the prominent place of the individual in society as well as an ideal that is gradually expanding in a globalized world where, despite real latent social inequality, there is a great legal and political awareness of the importance of ensuring the free realization of the individual, which promotes the expansion of critical thinking.