The philosophy of law is a branch of philosophical knowledge that describes the essence of legal phenomena, identifies the causes of the origin and development of legal norms and institutions, evaluates the appropriateness or inappropriateness of the norms of law.
Philosophy and law since ancient times have been inseparable. Heraclitus, Thales, Aristotle in their writings said that the concept of “law” is connected with “truth”, which is a philosophical category. But the separation of this discipline into an independent Hegel made . The philosophy of law, in his opinion, can be studied using two approaches: legistic and purely legal. Legists argue that law is a product of the state’s activities, norms are the orders of those who have power. Such an identification of law with the provision of the law is characteristic of glossators and positivists. The scientific interest of the supporter of legism is concentrated solely on the study of current legislation. The nature of natural law, not backed by laws, is not interesting to him. Positivist epistemology does not recognize the theory of law as such. Positivists show an increased interest in the text of the law, in the language of the law. Moreover, the very meaning of the law for them is derived from the form, and therefore less attention is paid to it. Proponents of the legal approach, on the contrary, urge to study not the texts of codes, but the nature of law, the dynamics of its development, its evolution in time. They claim that the right was given to a person from birth, and not granted by the ruler. The first in history such ideas were expressed by sophists. The postulates of natural international law were laid down by Hugo Grotius at the beginning of the seventeenth century.
A separate issue to which many publications are devoted is the philosophy of animal law. Do animals have a right? Do they obey the norms? The philosophy of law has studied the phenomenon of totemism. In antiquity, the Nenets, before killing a bear, carried out a special “negotiation” procedure, at which they agreed that their relatives would not avenge the murdered. Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that animals are subjects of law, as they know how to feel. The French enlightener concludes that a person has responsibilities not only to people, but also to animals. Immanuel Kant, on the contrary, was sure that people have no duties to animals. Australian P. Singer found similarities between the animal rights movement and the feminist movement.
The subject of philosophy of law today cannot be defined unambiguously. Legal axiology studies the value of law and law, ontology deals with legal idealism and legal nihilism, develops the idea of ​​law. Teleology explores the purpose of adopting regulations, the role of law and law in society. Phenomenology considers law as a phenomenon, as a self-sufficient system. Legal epistemology teaches us to distinguish real law from false, imaginary. The social philosophy of law explores the interdependence of the norms of law and the norms of morality and morality, questions of the legitimate interest of an individual person, the problems of the genesis and globalization of law, its harmonization and hermeneutics.
Today, the philosophy of law is at a revival stage after a break in the development of this science, which fell on the Soviet era. Scientists of various fields and specializations are interested in this field of knowledge: lawyers, philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, historians, psychologists. The discipline of the same name is studied at the philosophical and law faculties of universities in the country, in relevant institutes and academies. It is a kind of peculiar synthesis of legal and general humanitarian knowledge.