VIEWS OF THE BELARUSIAN ENLIGHTENER SIMEON OF POLOTSK ON STATE AND JUSTICE

Abstract

Some views of Simeon of Polotsk on the state and justice, on the significance of justice in the society in the epoch of absolutism are presented. Works of S. of Polotsk which are devoted to social political problems, to the questions connected with supreme power, the form of its organization and activity, are analyzed. Examples of philosophic interpretation by S. of Polotsk of some aspects of law are given. The tsar and the state are identified by the poet. His concept of an educated monarch is in fact directed to the legal limiting of autocratic power. In opinion of S. of Polotsk an ideal ruler must be a guard of lawfulness and order in the country. The activity of the state must base only on laws which are the same for everybody. The conclusion is drawn, that the thinker worried about the problems of the state, law and justice. In opinion of S. of Polotsk justice is one of the main troubles of a sovereign and his duty before people. Polotski dreams of a court equal for everybody: all people must be equal before law. The demands of Simeon of Polotsk to the activity of the state that must base only on the law, to the equality of the parties in legal proceedings have found the reflection in the modern law.