Scandinavian Psychological Theory of Law

The article examines the nature and main characteristics of the legal views of Scandinavian lawyers, who are traditionally identified in the history of modern legal thought as representatives of legal realism. The focus is, first of all, on the nature and methods of substantiating law as a psychological fact, which largely determines the profile of the legal views of Scandinavian realists (on the example of the writings of A. Hagerstrem and A. Ross). In this regard, the psychological orientation of the theoretical and legal views of the Scandinavian realists makes it possible to more accurately highlight the question of the place, meaning and orientation of the psychological by its nature Scandinavian theory of law in the history of modern legal thought. In addition, the study focuses on the features of epistemological approaches underlying the legal views of the realistic movement in legal thought in the Scandinavian countries.В  The novelty of the research lies in the fact that it gives a problem-critical assessment of the content of the legal views of the Scandinavian realists, determines the specifics of the semantic load of realism as an epistemological attitude underlying their philosophical, ethical and legal views, reveals the peculiarities of the interpretation of law as a psychological fact, and also demonstrates the possibilities of typologizing the corresponding ideas about law as a psychological theory law and its regional interpretation. In addition, clarifications are made to the definition of the place and significance of the psychological theory of law of Scandinavian authors in the history of pan-European legal thought, and some essential features of psychologism in the legal understanding of the considered regional group are identified.