Kistyakivskyi’s Phenomenon of Law

Abstract

What is the philosophy of law and what does it study? It should be noted that there were different approaches to the philosophy of law and its subject in the history of philosophical and legal thought. For example, George Hegel believed that it is a philosophical science of law, which has as its subject the idea of law. Ukrainian philosopher Bohdan Kistyakivskyi understood the philosophy of law as the doctrine of socio-cultural, humane essence of law. Scientists distinguish two major approaches to the philosophy of law science substantiation – historical and contemporary. The historical approach is based on the fact that these issues always disquieted the mankind throughout its existence. The philosophy of law is an ancient science which has a rich history. It is important to elucidate the formation of history of the Ukrainian philosophy of law and the main tasks of major periods. The aim of the article is to analyze Kistyakivskyi’s doctrine about the concept and essence of law, to investigate the methodology of Kistyakivskyi’s law, to highlight different approaches as well as to study the essence of law and the synthesis of comprehensions in early XX century.