Legal Consciousness as a Philosophical and Legal Category: Historical and Contemporary Interpretations

Abstract

The relevance of this study stems from the need to develop a comprehensive understanding of legal consciousness as a multidimensional phenomenon, to create a theoretical foundation for effective practices in legal education and legal socialization, and to deepen knowledge of the mechanisms of formation and functioning of the legal system. Despite a significant number of studies dedicated to legal consciousness, there is still no unified, comprehensive model in the scholarly discourse that adequately describes this multifaceted phenomenon. The absence of such a model complicates further development in the theory of law and philosophy of law. Modern studies increasingly demonstrate that legal consciousness is an integrated socio-legal category. That is, it is not confined solely to philosophical and legal discourse but also encompasses psychological and social aspects. This broad scope presents challenges for research while simultaneously opening new perspectives for scholarly analysis. The aim of this work is to identify and describe the evolution of scholarly approaches to understanding legal consciousness. Such an analysis allows for identifying key stages in the development of the concept of «legal consciousness», determining dominant paradigms and concepts, analyzing the interconnection of philosophical, psychological, and sociological aspects of legal consciousness, and revealing unresolved issues and prospects for further research. The methodological aspects of the study include: historical analysis (examining the evolution of the concept of legal consciousness in the context of the development of philosophy, law, and society), comparative analysis (comparing various theoretical approaches to understanding legal consciousness), and an interdisciplinary approach (integrating philosophical, legal, psychological, and sociological research methods). This enables an analysis of the dynamic evolution of the concept, from ancient philosophical concepts to contemporary sociocultural interpretations; an understanding of shifting emphases, from moral and philosophical aspects to psychological, sociological, and cultural dimensions; and an examination of the influence of historical contexts – how the understanding of legal consciousness has changed in various sociocultural conditions. The research results identify the following key trends: interpretive pluralism – the absence of a single definition and the diversity of approaches to analyzing legal consciousness; interdisciplinarity in research – the interaction of philosophy of law, sociology, psychology, and other sciences in the study of this phenomenon; and problematization – growing interest in studying the distortions of legal consciousness in the context of modern social transformations. The conclusions of the study can be used as a theoretical basis for developing effective mechanisms to form society’s legal consciousness.