THE ACTIVITY THEORY AS A METHODOLOGICAL BASIS FOR THE COGNITION OF LAW

Abstract

The methodological potential of activity theory as the basis for understanding law is examined in the article. Emphasis is placed on the fact that understanding law requires the use of methodological principles determining the ways of explaining legal phenomena and form the corresponding paradigm of legal cognition. It is noted that for a long time, the idea of law primarily as a system of normative provisions dominated in jurisprudence, which led to research being oriented toward the analysis of legal texts and the logical reconstruction of their content. It is argued that this approach does not fully explain law as a complex social phenomenon since law exists and manifests itself in the activities of subjects aimed at creating, interpreting, and implementing normative provisions. It has been determined that the use of activity theory as a methodological basis for understanding law makes it possible to consider law as a specific type of social activity and changes the research intention of legal phenomena, directing it towards the analysis of the processes of interaction between subjects, within which normative provisions acquire real content. It is substantiated that in the activity dimension, law appears as a multi-level phenomenon, the structure of which covers activities related to the formation of normative provisions, their interpretation, and their implementation. It is proven that these types of activities form a holistic process of the functioning of law, within which normative provisions are specified, their content is determined, and their actual effect is ensured. It has been established that the activity of forming normative provisions creates only general models of legal regulation, which become definite in the process of interpretation and are finally specified in the activity of their implementation. It has been substantiated that the interpretation and implementation of normative provisions are independent levels of the existence of law, which are in constant mutual influence with the activity of forming normative provisions. It is concluded that the activity approach creates methodological prerequisites for the formation of a holistic view of law as a process of interrelated activities, within which normative provisions acquire meaning and their actual effect is ensured.