Correlation of Rational and Irrational Elements in Legal Culture as a Factor of Its Uniqueness: Philosophical Analysis

The primary aim of this study is to identify the correlation between rational and irrational components of legal culture as a factor contributing to its uniqueness. The author emphasizes that the conceptualization of legal culture is a subject of interest for specialists in various fields, including legal scholars, sociologists, and culturologists. However, a comprehensive philosophical approach offers advantages, residing in the ability to discern the essential features of legal culture and the mutual influence of its primary elements across space and time. In their deliberations, the author draws upon the established position in modern science, according to which legal culture constitutes an element of national culture, encompassing an aggregate of rational and irrational phenomena. While the identification of rational elements is uncontroversial, the influence of irrational phenomena, termed “legal mentality”, often eludes the grasp of researchers employing positivistic methods. To construct a complete picture of such elements, a distinction is drawn between the concepts of “legal mentality” and “legal mindset”, recognized within different chronological frameworks. It is emphasized that while the legal mentality is entirely rooted in the depths of culture and is most irrational, the legal mentality is embodied in social forms – legal customs, legal thinking, stereotypes, attitudes and patterns of legal behavior. The author analyzes the invariant foundations of the Russian legal culture and comes to the conclusion about its uniqueness, formed under the influence of the kaleidoscopic interweaving of its rational and irrational elements with the dominance of the latter.