VƏTƏNDAŞ CƏMİYYƏTİ HAQQINDA KLASSİK KONSEPSİYALAR

The article examines the philosophical and legal foundations of civil society through major classical theories.Civil society is defined as a sphere distinct from the state, where individual liberty and private-law relations are realized.Its historical emergence is traced to institutions such as free cities, communes, guilds, and corporations.The discussion juxtaposes Kant's ideas of freedom and equality, Hegel's framework of the civil society-state relationship and law as "realized freedom," and Marx's thesis on the primacy of economic relations, situating civil society within the domains of production and exchange.In Russian thought, Chicherin's concept of legally framed individual interests and Frank's ethical-legal account (unity of right and duty, contract, and social solidarity) are highlighted.The paper concludes that civil society evolves as an autonomous yet interdependent sphere vis-à-vis the state, institutionalizing individual freedom through private-law mechanisms and historically grounded social structures.