Individual, family, society, state: historical-legal analysis of the evolution of concepts in pre-revolutionary Russia

The article analyzes the change in the legal content of individual, family, society and state concepts in the monuments of Russian law of different epochs. Сollective dormitories as a way of survival of society and a particular person, practically paternal veneration of power by the population, state, church and public support of the family, internationalization of law are disclosed as reasons for the evolution of these concepts. It is shown that the basic characteristics of the legal position of the individual up to 1917 were class, sex, attitude to property, religion. Priority protection of state interests to the detriment of personal interests is regarded as one of the dominants of the history of Russian law. Changes in the Russian legislation of the last century are analyzed from the point of view of the development of the system for the protection of human rights. The state significance of the concept of family is considered, the conclusion is made that the family throughout the centuries of Russian history was the most important element of the state-public organization. The formation of a modern understanding of the category «society» is associated with the Time of Troubles. The development of the concept of «state» is revealed in the context of the evolution of ideas about the personification of power to its institutionalization. The significance of the pater- nalistic theory of power in the history of Russian law is analyzed. The conclusion is made about the peculiarities of the legal content of the concepts of the individual, the family, society and the state in the Russian legal tradition, which is different in this case from the West European one.