Mario Kresic

The concept of legal consciousness is important for legal theory and the connection between legal theoryLegal theory (legal theorists), legal sociologyLegal sociology and legal psychology. The authors of this volume treated the concept of legal consciousnessConsciousnesslegalLegal consciousness primarily from the aspect of legal theory, referring, above all, to the tradition of European Legal Realism. The goal of this contribution is to present each author′s fundamental insights about legal consciousness connected in a unique and systemized structure.

The concept of legal consciousness can contribute to the development of disciplines that deal with law and their connection. Although recognized as an important concept, the meaning of legal consciousness remains vague and underutilized both for explaining the nature of law and for the empirical study of legal phenomena. The goal of this contribution is to foster a further analysis of the concept of legal consciousness and its use in empirical researches. In doing so, this contribution firstly explains the importance of the concept for understanding and studying legal phenomena. It examines the place of the concept in legal theory and proposes the concept as a meeting point for interdisciplinary research. Secondly, the content of the concept of legal consciousness itself is clarified based on Alf Ross’ insights. Finally, the contribution proposes fields of research in which the concept can be applied to achieve important analytical and empirical results.

This book is based on presentations and discussions at the special workshop "The concept of Legal Consciousness" held on July 7, 2022, in Bucharest, Romania, as part of thirtieth biennial World Congress of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR). The workshop was focused on the importance of this concept for legal theory, legal sociology, and legal psychology ("psychology and law"). The book consists of fourteen contributions divided into four thematic parts elaborating the following topics: concept of law, methodology of legal sciences, role of legal consciousness in legal theory and legal sociology, adjudication, constitutionalization, modification of the legal system, and the deliberate normative change.