LEGAL MENTALITY: THE NATURE AND CONDITIONS OF FORMATION

Abstract

Problem setting. The article presents the main theoretical and methodological approaches to the analysis of the essence of legal mentality. Particular attention is paid to the disclosure of the specifics of the axiological context of this social phenomenon. The essence and structure of legal mentality are considered. The quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the functions of the legal mentality are presented.

Legal mentality is the spiritual and psychological composition of the individual, of the people, of the nation and of other social entities, which are based on the political and legal paradigm, typing into a legally significant behavior through the use of characteristic legal assessments and special stereotypes of legal thinking.

Article’s main body. The formation of legal mentality is influenced by many factors. So, since the ancient times, the geographical factor of the formation of legal mentality takes its beginning. Ancient scholars traveling different countries, fixed the peculiarities of the habits, traditions of the peoples who inhabited

The great French thinker Montesquieu in his book The Spirit of Law saw in the climatic and natural peculiarities the most important element of the "spirit of laws" - the connection of the social system with the specific features of individual peoples.

The special attention paid to the analysis of the role of the natural environment in the process of formation of the Ukrainian mentality and the establishment of culture deserves the works of M. Hrushevsky's "History of Ukraine-Russia", "On the threshold of a new Ukraine", M. Kostomarov's "Two Russian peoples", which presents a historical analysis of dependence development of Ukrainian culture and mentality from the natural environment. It is about the influence of the natural environment on the cultural orientation of comprehension of the history of the Ukrainian people through the prism of two planes, "culture - the natural environment".

The second factor in the formation of legal mentality can be considered a psychological and pedagogical factor, which is closely related to the school F. Boas. Some of the conceptual provisions of M.Mit, which, based on their research, proved that the peculiarity of nationalist worldview and behavior is significantly dependent on the practice of bringing up children, which is unique to each culture, may be a prerequisite for this.

The third factor in the formation of legal mentality is the biological genetic factor that treats each nation as an "infinitely widespread family"; the peculiarities of the modes of perception and behavior depend on the "racial" factor, that is, the genetic predisposition to proper guidance.

In the German philosophical and socio-political thought of the beginning of the XIX century, in connection with the analysis of the national character of a particular people, the concept of "the spirit of the people", which was subsequently distributed, was formed. It gained its popularity thanks to the works of German romantics (Gölderlin, Schlegel), as well as Fichte, in particular the famous "Speeches to the German Nation".

Conceptual completeness, a certain rationalization of the concept of "the spirit of the people" acquires in the philosophical reflection of the great Hegel. He interprets the "folk spirit" of romantics in a rationalist, panological sense. The spirit as a specific totality, according to "Science of Logic", is divided into games of the moment, which are the concepts as such: general, special and individual; the general is the world Spirit, the individual is a separate person, and the particular one is the spirit of an individual people. This special spirit is the main active person in world history.

In the second half of the XIX century, in connection with the spread of the concept of "the spirit of the people", attempts were made to explain the general course of the historical process, based on the doctrine of the national character. The soul of the people was thus interpreted as something irrational and mystical. Thus, in the work of the French sociologist G. Le Bon "Psychology of peoples and the masses" the story is nothing else, as a result, caused by the psychological composition of race. The central thesis of his teaching is the concept of the spirit of the people, the spirit of the race, according to which the fate of the peoples, their life, history are determined by their soul. On the contrary, when the soul of the people is known to us, then his life is a direct and fatal consequence of his psychological features. With the greatest power, the supreme power of the racial soul is manifested in public institutions: "institutions of the people create the identification of his soul, and if he can easily change their appearance, then on the contrary, he can not change their foundation".

Conclusions and prospects for the development. In view of the above, legal mentality is a sign of the general mental and mental state of people belonging to one culture, thus giving them the opportunity to perceive the world around themselves and themselves in their own way. It allows the expression of persistent mental traits in relation to the law and state power that have developed in a particular legal culture. It is, in fact, a historically formed matrix of typing legally meaningful behavior and legal assessments that determine legal thinking, while remaining completely elusive in reflection.

Most important are the functions of legal mentality. Among them it is necessary to distinguish: cognitive-transformative; legal regulation and integration; estimated; cumulative security and broadcasting; socializing; prognostic

These functions in their totality predetermine the system of mental processes underlying the legal culture.