Abstract
Solov’ëv holds in this chapter that one of the fundamental problems in practical philosophy is the relationship between the moral and the legal spheres. The issue essentially concerns the connection between ideal moral awareness and real life. Our moral awareness, or consciousness, depends upon understanding this connection in a positive way. Within our ordinary and active lives, there is an apparent opposition between the moral and the legal spheres. Already from antiquity to our own day, many have found this opposition to be absolute. Morality alone is absolute, and law, being a purely contingent phenomenon, has been rejected in the name of absolute demands. Solov’ëv argues here, however, that there is no real contradiction between legal right and morality, but between the different states of awareness of both legal right and morality.
E] In B, this, the 14th chapter, spans pp. 484–512. As with Chap. 12, many passages in this chapter were also included in the separately published work, Solov’ëv 1899a, though the two are by no means identical. Solov’ëv, again, opposes in this chapter what he takes as the two extreme positions of Leo Tolstoy, on the one hand, and Boris Chicherin, on the other.
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Notes
- 1.
E] Cf. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5: 48.
- 2.
C] embodiment of nonsense.] embodiment of nonsense, approaching the absurd. B.
- 3.
E] of the children of God] Cf. “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Romans 8: 21.
- 4.
C] The very essence … problem before us.] The entire § 1 Absent in A.
- 5.
E] As was his typical practice here, Solov’ëv fails to provide referential information. Therefore, we cannot say with any certainty which edition of N. S. Tagancev’s Lectures on Russian Criminal Law he used. However, for another citation of this Prussian edict see Bar 1916: 230f.
- 6.
C] elementary] fundamental A.
- 7.
C] that positive] that, at first sight, positive AB.
- 8.
C] it seems one could] many have concluded and do A.
- 9.
C] as the poisoning of an innocent boy] as poisoning AB.
- 10.
C] This would not be worth … juridical sphere.] Absent in A.
- 11.
C] its sophistic] its frivolous, sophistic AB.
- 12.
E] Cf. Goethe 2001: 52 (Part I, Scene IV, lines 1972–1979). The reference to “the lying spirit” is also to Goethe 2001: 49. The translation here is from Solov’ëv’s presumably own Russian translation.
- 13.
F] Aside from the direct meaning of this remark, we can also see in it a certain prophecy about the persecution that befell the idea of natural law in jurisprudence a quarter century after Goethe. There are signs that this persecution is now coming to an end.
- 14.
C] on which Mephistopheles singularly dwells] to which Mephistopheles singularly points AB.
- 15.
C] of the unjust law quoted above.] with which I began. A.
- 16.
C] the foremost representatives of] Absent in A.
- 17.
C] Between the ideal … correct evil.] Absent in A.
- 18.
C] actual] current AB.
- 19.
C] would remain] remains B.
- 20.
C] would lose] loses B.
- 21.
C] moral preaching that is devoid … from the arbitrary.] with the complete divorce of legal concepts and institutions from the ethical sphere, moral preaching remains at best only innocent idle talk. A.
- 22.
C] moral] Absent in A.
- 23.
F] Moral and juridical concepts are expressed in all languages by either the same words or words derived from a single root. The Russian word “dolg,” like the Latin word “debitum” (from which the French word “devoir” comes) as well as the German “Schuld,” has both a moral and a legal meaning. In the cases of δικη and δικαιοσυνη, the Latin jus and justitia, as well as the Russian words “pravo” and “pravda”, the German Recht and Gerechtigkeit, the English “right” and “righteousness,” the two meanings are distinguished merely by means of suffixes. Compare also the Hebrew tsedek and tsedeka.
- 24.
F] See above in the first part of the chapter “On Virtues.” C] In A, this note reads: See the article “On Virtues” in the May 1895 issue of Voprosy filosofii i psikhologii.
- 25.
C] and inner connection] Absent in AB.
- 26.
C] close, intimate relationship] intimate, inner connection A] close, intimate connection B.
- 27.
C] merely] Absent in AB.
- 28.
C] i.e., in another, narrow sense, a right as such,] Absent in AB.
- 29.
C] in principle] Absent in A.
- 30.
C] as we can clearly see from … has been applied.] Absent in A.
- 31.
C] However,] Clearly, however, AB.
- 32.
C] has no need] does not want A.
- 33.
C] (except as an example)] Absent in A.
- 34.
C] love, that is, what specific … refrain from doing] love. The commandment can be satisfied even without doing anything (i.e., nothing overt). For example, if no opportunity arises to encounter the enemy or to engage him in some meaningful respect. A.
- 35.
C] not only does not exclude … certainly does not demand them.] does not exclude external actions, since the order to act in a specific manner is in no way a denial of the inner states corresponding to them. AB.
- 36.
C] heart.] heart. Generally, speaking, a small but actually realized good is preferable to a grandiose one that is not realized (the proverb about a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush). Thus, the minimal content of the good has no right to something that is for it reprehensible or humiliating. This addition appears in B alone.
- 37.
C] compatible with] a matter of A.
- 38.
C] with a demand for a corresponding concern] Absent in A.
- 39.
C] others, that induces us actively to save them from evil.] others and an obligation to act and save them from evil or to help them. A.
- 40.
C] obligation] task A.
- 41.
C] In the natural course … it happens that] Absent in A.
- 42.
C] to the highest ideal] to this ideal A.
- 43.
C] Independently of this … clutches of evil.] Our actual moral awareness, similar to the simple human instinct of self-preservation, cannot allow such a chaotic state. A.
- 44.
C], instead of actively … clutches of evil] Absent in B.
- 45.
C] which human dignity … are impossible.] which higher moral development is impossible. A.
- 46.
C] task] goal AB.
- 47.
C] for our vital, practical goal] Absent in AB.
- 48.
C] obvious] extreme B.
- 49.
E] Cf. “For Moses describe the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.”—Romans 10: 5.
- 50.
C] If a frank moralist … only an abstract concept.] Absent in A.
- 51.
C] by itself] Absent in A.
- 52.
C] To appeal in this case … judicial system.] Absent in A.
- 53.
C] interest, or—what … moral good. For the latter, it] interest, for which it A.
- 54.
C] expressed] defined AB.
- 55.
C] determination of a necessary and] boundary of a A.
- 56.
C] the material equalization of private interests.] an equilibrium of private interests, or what is called distributive justice. A.
- 57.
C] , as such,] Absent in AB.
- 58.
C] that.] that. When a wealthy creditor collects the last penny of a poor debtor, it is clear that the private interests of these people are imbalanced. It was broken by one of the parties. However, in matters of right the issue of the degree of the material being of the parties is immaterial. A.
- 59.
C] Within certain limits,] Absent in A.
- 60.
C] in this respect to help others as well.] to defend others from it. AB.
- 61.
C], for the benefit of all,] Absent in AB.
- 62.
C] people, the compulsory … of evil inclinations] citizens, criminal law still leaves enough room for the effecting of evil passions AB.
- 63.
C] objective public] objective, so to speak, public A.
- 64.
C] allows people to be] does not prevent people from being A.
- 65.
C] Such a premature hell has threatened … follow from this.] This lengthy selection absent from AB.
- 66.
C] taken separately,] Absent in AB.
- 67.
C] self-conscious] sensitive AB.
- 68.
C] rapists.] mutilators AB.
- 69.
C] offense] crime AB.
- 70.
C] insult] offenses AB.
- 71.
C] They represent an … lawful compulsion.] In the case of premeditated murder, whether accomplished or stopped owing to circumstances out of the control of the would-be criminal, it is clear that this individual’s evil will is capable of being implemented, something that is incompatible with both public safety and personal freedom. AB.
- 72.
C] the common good,] the moral interest of the common good, A.
- 73.
C] or destroyed through the elimination of one of the terms.] Absent in AB.
- 74.
B] but the good] but only the good AB.
- 75.
C] any] the AB.
- 76.
C] any] the AB.
- 77.
F] After what was said in Chap. 15 (on the penal question), I need not explain further that the moral principle not only allows, but in certain cases even demands, that the criminal be temporarily deprived of personal freedom both for his own sake as well as for the safety of society. Along with capital punishment, we must recognize that it is morally impermissible only to sentence a person to a deprivation of freedom for the rest of his or her life. C] After what … her life.] Entire note Absent in A.
- 78.
C] must not] cannot AB.
- 79.
C] in advance] Absent in A.
- 80.
C] intrinsically obligatory] intrinsic B.
- 81.
C] exchanging a dead lion for a live dog.] a living dog is more powerful than a dead lion. B E] Cf. “for a living dog is better than a dead lion”—Ecclesiastes 9: 4.
- 82.
C] conditions, or a constant joint occurrence of] conditions of B.
- 83.
F] Although in certain pieces of legislation there exist resolutions (on paper) that prescribe piety, honor for one’s parents and abstention in general from drunkenness, etc., such pseudo-laws are only an unreaped leftover from an ancient fusion or mixture of moral and juridical concepts. C] Although in certain pieces of legislation there exist] Only on the basis of a misunderstanding in certain pieces of legislation does there exist B C] such pseudo-laws … juridical concepts.] Absent in B.
- 84.
F] The pious wishes of the legislator mentioned in the previous note are not accompanied by any sanction. This adequately shows that they are pseudo-laws.
- 85.
C] even with all their necessary … equal subordination to] are only the separate, manifested forms of B.
- 86.
C] under law] Absent in B.
- 87.
C] dwelling here on] dealing for the time being with B.
- 88.
F] Cf. above, in Chaps. 10 and 15, and below in Chaps. 18 and 19. C] This entire note Absent in B.
- 89.
C] society.] society, and this is sufficient for its moral justifications. B.
- 90.
C] since it originates from a general and] as originating from a general and therefore B.
- 91.
C] practical] Absent in B.
- 92.
C] External, compulsory obligation … moral awareness.] Entire §X Absent in A.
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Nemeth, T. (2015). [399]Chapter 17 Morality and Legal Right. In: Nemeth, T. (eds) Vladimir Solov’ëv's Justification of the Moral Good. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12775-0_18
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