The Idea of the Rule of Law: The State of Crisis and the Prospects for Modern Society

The article discusses the history of the development of the idea of the rule of law, its relevance for jurisprudence, and its current state. The purpose of the article is to analyze the prospects for the theory of the rule of law in modern society, as well as the main problems contributing to its crisis state. The author used the following methods: philosophical dialectics; general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis, abstraction, analogy; general scientific research approaches (historical, systemic); private scientific methods of cognition (formal legal, comparative legal). The article examines three main problems, the solution of which determines the success of overcoming the crisis of the named idea and the success of building a legal theory. Firstly, the problem of the lack of necessary jurisprudence of the concept of the rule of law, the confusion of legal and political characteristics in the study of the state, the implementation of old features, principles that often appeared and were developed in the era of absolutism. Secondly, the dominant philosophical direction of thought that replaced postmodernity is meta modernity, within which there is no room left for the construction of scientific theories, as well as the continuing influence of postmodernist philosophy. Thirdly, the state of the scientific community in general and the legal community in particular, which consists of a passion for the reproduction of knowledge, loss of professional potential and the ability to resist political elites to protect science, high ideals and values. The author proposed, firstly, the establishment of dividing lines between concepts, ideas and teachings obtained in different research scientific fields; secondly, a critical attitude towards modern philosophical trends of thought from the point of view of their correlation with legal concepts and constructions, the methodology of legal science; thirdly, awareness of the responsibility of the legal community for the crisis phenomena of modern society.