About Legal Philosophy

In this article I will take into hand the ideas, which contain the principal political and ethical requirements of our time, which require the special attention of the jurists. To summarize these requirements I will use the term “humanitarianism”. I am aware of the fact that some shades of meaning of this notion do not reflect that what I have in my mind. Therefore, I will not attempt to give a strict definition of humanitarianism as I understand it. A more precise definition will be left for the moment, when the ideas embraced by this definition will have obtained more precise contours. For the first draft of concept I will observe at the beginning that the notion of humanitarianism is strictly linked to the notion of reason. It means that in all cases, when a man today and in future is concerned, we have to establish a philosophical disposition carefully, according to our best understanding, under the stimulating guidance of conscience, responsibility and all-embracing care. At the same time this responsibility means the denial of every “intellectual immolation”, false compassion, sanctimonious devotion and false amicability. (This is a shortened article from the original.)