The formation of P.I. Novgorodtsev’s theory of the social ideal in the context of the creative reception of German philosophical and legal thought

The author addresses the problem of interaction between philosophical and juridical consciousness, choosing as a subject the reception of philosophical and legal ideas of Kant and Hegel by the Russian thinker of the Silver Age Pavel I. Novgorodtsev (1866–1924). It is proposed to interpret Novgorodtsev’s philosophical and legal concept as a completely independent, original system, although it has undergone a certain historical evolution, like any living organism. The article includes three building blocks. First, the peculiarities of Novgorodtsev’s interpretation of the theoretical and methodological principles of Kant and Hegel, which he made in his doctoral dissertation (1902), are clarified. Secondly, the influence of these principles on the content and problems of Novgorodtsev’s most famous work, “On the Social Ideal” (1917–1921), is considered. Thirdly, the author traces the metaphysical (Kant-Hegelian) background of Novgorodtsev’s article, which was included in the post-revolutionary collection “From the Depths” (1918). The author’s work is intended to show that it is in the plane of contact between law and philosophy that the most acute and therefore the most significant epistemological problems are found. The regular actualization of these problems and the intense scientific and theoretical work on their solution by thinkers of P. I. Novgorodtsev’s caliber, in turn, explain the unflagging interest of the academic community in works of German philosophers.