The relevance of the research into the correlation between morality and law in the Ukrainian legal tradition is determined by a complex of factors shaping the development of modern Ukrainian statehood. In the context of contemporary challenges, particularly the necessity of strengthening national security, the legal system appears not merely as a set of normative prescriptions but as a fundamental means of establishing the rule of law and an instrument for protecting human rights. A profound reformation of this system requires reliance on the national legal tradition with its powerful humanistic-value dimension. Under the conditions of the large-scale invasion by the aggressor, the issue of national identification acquires existential significance, and the legal tradition acts as an effective mechanism for such identification.
The necessity of reviving the phenomenon of "moralized law" as a national tradition is necessitated by the deficit of humanistic potential in the current legal reality of Ukraine. The centuries-old history of Ukrainian law demonstrates the organic unity of ethical and legal norms, which serves as the foundation for forming responsible legal thinking among both government officials and ordinary citizens. Furthermore, the European integration aspirations of the Ukrainian people require not only the formal adaptation of legislation but also a deep assimilation of European legal values, which were historically inherent in the Ukrainian legal culture.
The first section of the work provides a thorough analysis of the theoretical and methodological contributions of domestic and foreign scholars dedicated to the dissertation problem. The evolution of concepts such as legal tradition, natural law, forms and sources of law, morality, and ethics is explored. It is noted that while previous researchers identified several features of the development of the Ukrainian
legal tradition across different eras, the question of the correlation between morality and law through the prism of types of rationality requires a separate, holistic study.
Since the relationship between morality and law is essentially denied within the legalistic (positivist) doctrine, this study is conducted from the standpoint of the jusnaturalistic (natural law) approach. This allows for the consideration of law not as the mere will of the state, but as the embodiment of the higher values of justice and freedom. The methodology of the work is based on the principle of the complementarity of methods. General scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, deduction), philosophical methods (dialectical, existential-phenomenological, hermeneutical), and special legal methods (historical-legal, socio-legal, formal-dogmatic) were applied. A special place is occupied by the method of synergetics as a general scientific transdisciplinary program, allowing for the investigation of the legal system as an open self-organizing structure sensitive to the moral and ethical impulses of society.
The second section is devoted to the study of the moral-legal continuum as a cultural-civilizational phenomenon. It is substantiated that in the communal-tribal period, the individual was "dissolved" in the group "we," and their behavior was strictly regulated by traditional primitive morality. Cardinal changes occurred during the "Axial Age," when the establishment of ethical norms (good, common good, freedom, human dignity) led to the formation of a transgressive type of human – a personality capable of going beyond immediate experience. This individual, through categorical thinking, created moralized law, which, in turn, shaped them as a subject of law.
The author proves that law and morality share a common terminological base and a similar structure, including ideological, normative, and institutional components. Their common function lies in the improvement of the human being and the harmonization of social existence. Law is defined as a form of existence of moral norms or "legalized morality." The essential characteristic of both systems is universal human meanings and values.
An important aspect of the research is the influence of rationality on the development of law. Ancient civilization produced "wise rationality," based on the integrity of natural and human existence. It was directed toward creating the content of
law, which formed the individual as a citizen. In contrast, the practical rationality of the Romans focused on the form – the statute (lex) as a tool for protecting private property and individual freedom. Modern European rationalism, however, formed a legalistic paradigm indifferent to spirituality, leading to the separation of morality from law and the transformation of the latter into a political tool of repression in non-democratic regimes.
