The National and the Universal in Pavel I. Novgorodtsev's Philosophy of Law

This article examines the philosophy of law of the eminent twentieth-century Russian philosopher of law, Pavel I. Novgorodtsev. I demonstrate that his viewpoints express a dialectic between the national and the universal in his understanding of law, a dialectic that consists in a synthesis of law and morals, justice and lawfulness, and in identifying the spiritual basis of law. The article also determines the principles of humanistic law in his conception of the rule of law and the free individual.