RUDOLF VON JHERING'S PHILOSOPHY OF LAW AND THE DOCTRINE OF THE "RUSSIAN WORLD"

Abstract

B a c k g r o u n d . The article explores how Rudolf von Jhering's philosophy of law, which asserts a teleological understanding of law as a morally oriented purpose, stands in opposition to the anti-legal eschatology of the "Russian world", where power is sacralized and law reduced to an ideological instrument of violence. The study highlights the civilizational dimension of Russia's current war against Ukraine as a clash between two systems of legal thought: the teleological, based on freedom and justice, and the mythological, which legitimizes imperial aggression. The relevance of the study lies in the need to comprehend the deep contradictions between European legal civilization – grounded in the principles of rationalism, dignity, and freedom – and the ideological doctrine of the "Russian world", which denies personal autonomy and the rational foundations of law.

M e t h o d s . The methodological framework combines philosophical-legal, hermeneutic, and comparative approaches that integrate an analysis of Jhering's classical works (Der Zweck im Recht, Der Kampf ums Recht) with a critical interpretation of contemporary Russian ideological narratives. Methods of social phenomenology and analytical hermeneutics are applied to identify key semantic antinomies – law vs. power, purpose vs. mission, freedom vs. collectivism, dignity vs. subjugation.

R e s u l t s . It is demonstrated that Jhering conceived law as an ethical form of social life harmonizing freedom and order. His teleological model views law as a struggle for dignity and justice, where power is subordinated to moral purpose. In contrast, the "Russian world" represents a form of anti-legal thinking that sacralizes authority, replaces morality with ideology, and transforms law into violence. This doctrine is revealed as an eschatological rather than teleological system, interpreting history as a repetition of a sacred myth while depriving the human being of the status of legal subject. Within the contemporary Ukrainian context, Jhering's philosophy of law emerges as a moral and intellectual counterweight to the ideology of the "Russian world", since its teleologism is grounded in the principles of freedom, dignity, and civic responsibility.

C o n c l u s i o n s . The opposition between Jhering's legal rationalism and the imperial mythologism of the "Russian world" acquires a civilizational significance: the former defines law as a means of moral advancement, while the latter reduces it to a religious-ideological justification of force. The Ukrainian experience of defending freedom and independence demonstrates the enduring validity of Jhering's maxim that law lives only where people fight for it. Thus, Jhering's philosophy of law serves as a spiritual and intellectual antithesis to neo-imperial narratives and as a foundation for Ukraine's legal statehood, grounded in human dignity, moral responsibility, and the rule of law.