The essence of a state: a teleological approach

Introduction: the nature of a state in the modern theory of state and law is often reduced to its social purpose, which greatly impoverishes the category of the essence and does not allow moving on the path of knowledge of the most profound moment of the essence of a state. The purpose of the study is to find the most adequate approach to the process of cognition of a state in which, as shown by the representatives of the dialectical method, the human mind, infinitely deepening moves from lying on the surface phenomena to their essence, from the essence of the first order to the essence of the second order, etc. without end until the basis of the phenomenon, which is understood as the most profound moment of its essence. The methodological framework for the work is a philosophical analysis of the categories of “essence” and “phenomenon”, a collection of the dialectical, metaphysical and systematic research methods, as well as the teleological approach. In accordance with it all the objects and phenomena of the objective world contain the potential, inherent purpose of their existence that they seek to implement in the course of their development. Results: there is given a reason for the author ’s viewpoint with respect to the original reason of existence of a state as a politically organized society, the purposes of its existence and the hierarchy of the values which it is intended to serve in the course of its existence and development. Conclusions: the idea of a full de facto sovereignty is a political essence of a state, including all the remain ing levels of its nature - the anthropological, ontological, social, and national-cultural ones.