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This book, authored by an international group of scholars, focuses on a vibrant central current within the history of Russian legal thought: how Christianity, and theistic belief generally, has inspired the aspiration to the rule of law in Russia, informed Russian philosophies of law, and shaped legal practices.
Following a substantial introduction to the phenomenon of Russian legal consciousness, the volume presents twelve concise, non-technical portraits of modern Russian jurists and philosophers of law whose thought was shaped significantly by Orthodox Christian faith or theistic belief. Also included are chapters on the role the Orthodox Church has played in the legal culture of Russia and on the contribution of modern Russian scholars to the critical investigation of Orthodox canon law.
The collection embraces the most creative period of Russian legal thought-the century and a half from the later Enlightenment to the Russian emigration following the Bolshevik Revolution.
This book will merit the attention of anyone interested in the connections between law and religion in modern times.
List of contents
Foreword
Introduction: A Russian Conception of Legal Consciousness
1 Law and the Orthodox Church in the History of Russia
2 Vasilii Malinovskii: A Russian Christian on War and Peace
3 Mikhail Speranskii: Statesman, Jurist, Christian Thinker
4 Aleksandr Kunitsyn: Pioneer of Natural Law in Russia
5 Konstantin Pobedonostsev: Law, Religion, and Russian Conservatism
6 Boris Chicherin: Christian Modernist
7 The Civic Religion of Anatolii Koni
8 Leonid Kamarovskii: Christian Values and International Law
9 Vladimir Soloviev: Faith, Philosophy, and Law
10 Between Law and Theology: Russia's Modern Orthodox Canonists
11 Pavel Novgorodtsev: Natural Law and Its Religious Justification
12 Sergei Kotliarevskii: The Rule of Law in Russian Liberal Theory
13 Nikolai Alekseev: Advocate of Social Justice and Global Peace
14 Ivan Ilyin: Philosopher of Law, Force, and Faith
Afterword
About the author
Paul Valliere is Emeritus Professor of Religion at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, and a senior fellow of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Randall A. Poole is Professor of History at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota, and a fellow of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University.
Summary
This book focuses on a vibrant central current within the history of Russian legal thought: how Christianity, and theistic belief generally, has inspired the aspiration to the rule of law in Russia, informed Russian philosophies of law, and shaped legal practices.
