Freedom versus the Law. Authority and Freedom in Russian Political Thought

Abstrakt

Author presents reflection on the evolution of political terms and notions throughout Russian history. In this study, as its main focus is the reconstruction of the development process of concepts and notions pertaining to the political whole. Nevertheless, these issues do surface in the context of conceptualizing the political community, as an important aspect of both  political organization and political action. In Russia, certain concepts pertaining to some aspects of freedom did develop, but what never emerged was the general idea of freedom as the central political issue. On the other hand, the issue of authority emerged as an  independent field of thought, as a result of the despotic and anti-despotic interpretations of terms used to describe the political system (following terms: freedom and power, authority and political community).