Justice: between law and Conscience

Abstract

From the philosophical perspective article deals with the correlation between law and consciousness. To address the issue, ideas from renowned thinkers are used. It specifically describes the experience of addressing the subject in Russian philosophy from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. The article shows the reasons for preferring law or consciousness in different periods of history and demonstrates the rational nature of law and the irrational nature of consciousness, indicating that law and consciousness are not mutually exclusive. It concludes with an attempt to combine the two concepts in activities of people who must enforce legal norms. Using the experience of Russian philosophy, which regards the law as a moral minimum, people are advised to govern their actions not only by legal rules, but by listening to the voice of their conscience. The authors suggest understanding conscience as a spiritual and moral human law that makes it possible to make decisions without being forced or motivated from the outside, governed by the internal realization of good and evil and identifying the veracity, justice, and rectitude of an act.