Lawyer and Sociologist N. Korkunov

Abstract

The article analyzes the legacy of a prominent Russian lawyer and sociologist Nikolay Korkunov (1853-1904), in particular his concept of socio-psychological nature of law and authority. Korkunov called his theoretical and methodological approach to the study of law and power “subjective realism” because his conception of the social determination of the law and authority considers “the elements of the psyche” in legal and power relations. Objectivity in science should not eliminate the subjective element of the research object, because this object is intrinsically subjective. Korkunov’s position influenced the theory of psychology of law of another “lawyer-sociologist” — Leon Petrazhitsky. According to Korkunov, law is “eternal”, public, and not just state phenomenon and cannot exist outside of society, as society in all its forms cannot exist without law. For “scientific study” of legal phenomena one need to identify common, stable properties of law irrespective of the conditions of time and place for its implementation. These properties are subjective law awareness and “the distinction of interests”. The actual content of the legal interests and law awareness is relative and varies in relation to specific societies. Therefore, for the coordination and establishment of public order law should distinguish between the interests corresponding to valid relations in legal life of a society.