Edmund Krzymuski's Jurisprudence

Abstract

The paper presents the influence of critical philosophy on Edmund Krzymuski’s legal and political views and opinions. Krzymuski (1851-1928) was one of the most eminent Polish lawyers living at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Predominantly known as a criminal law jurist, he was initially involved in jurisprudence (philosophy of law), which he approached in the classical school spirit, and whose norms he followed till the end of his life. At the times of legal positivism dominance, Krzymuski was an ardent promoter of the law of nature. His references to Immanuel Kant’s criminal theory placed him among the few representatives of Polish Neo-Kantianism in jurisprudence. He also referred to Kant’s concept of law which reconciled individual freedom with other people’s freedom, and supported the social contract theory as an a priori idea of reason, and the idea of a state and its relations with citizens who must be treated in compliance with the moral dictate of absolute duty, i.e. as an aim in itself.