HISTORICAL AND AXIOLOGICAL APPROACHES AS LEGAL SCIENCE METHODOLOGY ELEMENT

Author (s): Pekarchuk V., Petrovska Y., Popruzhna A.

Work place:

Pekarchuk V.,

Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Professor of the Department

of Theory and History of State and Law, International Law

of the Humanities Faculty (full-time and part-time),

Penitentiary Academy of Ukraine, Chernihiv, Ukraine

ORCID: 0000-0002-7750-1474

Petrovska Y.,

PhD in History, Associate Professor, Vice-Rector,

Penitentiary Academy of Ukraine, Chernihiv, Ukraine

ORCID: 0009-0005-8131-2210

Popruzhna A.,

Acting Head of the Department of State and Law Theory and History, International Law of the Humanities Faculty (full-time and part-time),

Penitentiary Academy of Ukraine, Chernihiv, Ukraine

ORCID: 0000-0002-5079-2865

Language: Ukrainian

Scientific Herald of Sivershchyna. Series: Law 2025 No 3 (26): 48-57

https://doi.org/10.32755/sjlaw.2025.03

Summary

The article explores the significance of historical and axiological approaches in modern jurisprudence as a reaction to the crisis of normative thinking that ignores the value and historical dimension of law. The essence of the historical approach as a means of understanding law in the context of its genesis, social and cultural conditioning, and the evolution of legal forms, is revealed. The necessity to combine historical and axiological approaches for the formation of an ethically oriented, self-reflective jurisprudence capable of critically evaluating current legislation and contributing to the establishment of the rule of law is substantiated. The combination of historical and axiological approaches forms complex methodological boundaries that allow not only to describe and systematize law, but also to critically understand it. This approach allows a lawyer to think not only in terms of legal technique, but also in terms of legitimacy, value justification, and historical relevance of law.

It is summarized that modern jurisprudence requires rethinking of its own methodological principles, in particular, by setting off from the normative paradigm that has long dominated in legal science. The historical and axiological approaches, each in its own way, return law to its origins – as a product of cultural experience and a carrier of basic social values. Their combination opens up prospects for a deeper, critical, and holistic understanding of law not only as a system of norms, but as a phenomenon rooted in the collective memory and moral order of society. The actualization of these approaches not only enriches legal methodology, but also contributes to the establishment of the rule of law based on respect for dignity, historical continuity and ethical meaning of law

Key words: axiological approach, historical school of law, historical approach, methodology of law, normativism, law, rule of law.

 

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