Russian Religious Philosophy of Law in the context of Protection of Traditional Russian Values

The main characteristics of Russian religious philosophy of law are examined within the context of the modern Russian state’s policy aimed at preserving and strengthening traditional Russian spiritual and moral values. The policy is interpreted as a manifestation of a “conservative turn” in domestic politics while still maintaining the liberal “core” of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The article demonstrates that Russian legal philosophy – most of which can be classified as “religious” – cannot serve as a theoretical foundation for such a policy, since conservatism clearly prevails over liberalism in it, which does not align with Russia’s current legal system. Furthermore it cannot function as a source of content for specific traditional values within the legal ideal, since the conceptualizations of such ideal historically were not oriented towards the interests of a multi-national, multi-religious civil nation. As a result, they fail to comply with the guidelines of the present Russian government. Given these considerations, it can be concluded that the tradition, which the current Russian government suggests the Russian people as a diverse, multinational and not entirely religious population, should rely on to reinforce civil unity, can only be “reinvented” through broad public discussions. It cannot be simply sought in the past nor imposed “from the authorities” under the guise of “historical truth”.

Keywords: traditional values; historical truth; conservative liberalism; Orthodoxy; Russian religious philosophy; legal ideal