Psychological Concept of Law of L. I. Petrazhytsky in the Political and Legal Thought of Russia (The End of the 19th – Beginning of the 20th Centuries)

Aim. To reconstruct the psychological concept of law by L.I. Petrazhitsky, to reveal its essence and role in political and legal thought and socio-political life of Russia at the turn of the XIX – XX centuries. Methodology. To achieve this goal, the work uses a wide range of general scientific methods and political science approaches: dialectical, descriptive, axiological, structural and functional, analysis and synthesis. Results. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that L.I. Petrazhitsky proposed a unique psychological concept of law that does not fit into any of the directions of the philosophy of law. Being a proponent of the idea of the dual nature of law (subjective and objective), he put “intuitive” law as the basis of positive law, thereby introducing into the theory of law a separate class of legal emotions (impulses) based on the inner motivation of a person. Research implications. The theoretical and/or practical significance of the research lies in identifying the heuristic, theoretical and methodological potential of L.I. Petrazhitsky’s psychological theory of law, in particular, the actualization of problematic areas of political and legal thought in Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.