THE THEORY OF THE ASCENDING LEGAL DEVELOPMENT OF MANKIND: THE MAIN DISADVANTAGES AND WAYS TO ELIMINATE

The article analyzes the causes of the crisis of the idea of the ascending legal development (legal progress) of mankind. One of the most important reasons is the prejudice formed in the Age of Enlightenment about the inevitability of legal progress, which is based on the postulate of the inclinations inherent in nature in man, pushing him towards an ideal legal world order. This view ignores subjective factors, the human will to follow the path of legal progress, as well as other circumstances that hinder legal development. The second important reason for the fading of faith in the «legal paradise» was the serious difficulties faced by supporters of the idea of upward legal development in the process of forming homo juridicus. The third reason is the desire to achieve a legal goal by non-legal means. In the theory of legal progress, the principles of organization and functioning of the state have been replaced: instead   of the principles of legal communication, the principles of political communication were taken as a basis, which became a deterrent to legal progress. The author of the article critically rethinks the idea of the ascending legal development of mankind, formulates proposals for the creation of a fundamentally new theory of legal progress that eliminates the shortcomings of the previous philosophical teaching.