Social Ideal in Leon Petrażycki’s Legal Policy. Evolutionary Perspective

Radosław Zyzik

The article analyzes the hypothesis of ideal of love, which was first proposed by Leon Petrażycki. The ideal of love in the works of Polish philosopher and sociologist of law serves as an axiom of practical reason, constituting an order of legal development that will lead to the universal cooperation, not only between members of one society, but among all of humanity. The law was designed to accelerate the moral development of society, through appropriate impact on the psyche of people following rules, and at the same time it should to educate them in the spirit of universal cooperation (morality). Modern research conducted in evolutionary science and primatology seems to confi rm some assumptions underlying the ideal of love, but on the same time, they imposed severe restrictions on it. In the fi rst part of the article the concept of the ideal of love is presented, including the role of law and legal policy, which should lead to its achievement. The second part of the article is devoted to the reviewing of the biological roots of mora lity and its evolution in the light of the work of Frans de Waal. Th e last part of the paper consists of the evaluation of Petrażycki’s proposal, conducted from the perspective of evolutionary science and primatology, and indication of its advantages and limitations. At the end of the paper reader can find examples of possible applications of the concept of the ideal of love in social and legal practice.

60-zyzik

Keywords: legal policy · legal philosophy · theory of evolution · primatology · Petrażycki · ideal of love

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