A.F. Koni between German Idealism and Russian Legal Realism

The article is dedicated to the problem of explicating the philosophical and legal approaches of A.F. Koni to the analysis of various aspects of legal reality related to court proceedings. In particular, an attempt is made to answer the question of why, when studying the activities of judges, A.F. Koni tends to lean more towards methodologies characteristic of traditional philosophical and legal schools, primarily referring to the legacy of German idealism, relying on the practical philosophy of I. Kant and G.W.F. Hegel, while in relation to other participants in the court proceedings—defendants, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and jurors—he resorts to psychology and sociology of law. The latter connects him with representatives of Russian legal realism, in particular with his younger contemporary, the founder of the St. Petersburg School of Philosophy of Law and the creator of the psychological theory of law, L.I. Petrażycki. The research is conducted based on the works of A.F. Koni on judicial ethics and psychology, as well as the history and sociology of law. The main research method is critical interpretation of primary sources and comparative analysis. It is shown that, since the judge is a special subject obliged to rise above the conflict of the other parties in the court proceedings, performing largely a metaphysical function, delivering justice not in their own name but in the name of society, the activity of such a subject should be considered primarily from the perspective of obligation rather than existing fact. Therefore, A.F. Koni, when analyzing the behavior of judges, resorts to classical concepts of law and morality. In turn, regarding defendants, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and jurors, as they personally participate in the judicial process, preference is given to psychological, including psychiatric, and sociological methods that allow analyzing the rich empirical material accumulated over the years of A.F. Koni's service in judicial institutions. The article also demonstrates the unity of the socio-pedagogical approaches of A.F. Koni and L.I. Petrażycki

Economic Justice · German · Judgement · Philosophy of law · Digital Transformation in Law · Emergency Medicine Education and Research · Psycholinguistics and Behavioral Studies

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