MIKHAIL A. RISNER’S STATE-LEGAL AND RELIGIOUS VIEWS ON MORALITY (THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY)

Abstract

On the basis of the analysis of the teachings of German canonists and theologians of the 19th century, a famous Russian jurist Mikhail A. Reisner elaborated his own system of views regarding the interrelationship between law and morality from the point of view of their existence in the Christian state. At the beginning of his academic life Mikhail A. Reisner was far from sharing socialist ideas and closer to the ideals of the rule-of-law State. Under the conditions of this type of the State «the moral law» acts as the predetermining social regulator; the concept of «personality altruism» is formed as the theoretical foundation for understanding of the civil society; law is explained through its properties of moral and conciliatory power; the «natural state» of the person is interpreted in the context of impossibility of influence of Christian dogmas on the subjective side of the human will. Despite the fact that Prof. Reisner considered unattainable the existence of a Christian State within the framework of the rule-of-law State, the scholar identified the issues of their joint jurisdiction. Conclusions drawn on the basis of the study of the works written by Prof. Reisner using his individual views concerning the philosophical and legal thought of other representatives of Russian law schools (B. A. Kistyakovsky, P. I. Novgorodtsev) allows the authors to reveal the commonality and relevance of their moral ideas for the modern period of time.