Published: 2026-03-31

The impact of apriorism on the formation of legal awareness

Piotr Zamelski Profil ORCID autora Piotr Zamelski
Zeszyty Prawnicze
Section: Artykuły
DOI https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2026.26.1.04

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the concept of apriorism in the history of philosophy and its influence on legal awareness in society at large. One of the key characteristics of a priori statements is that they are universally accepted by political authorities, opinion-shaping milieus and the vast majority of society, and public opinion does not approve of attempts to contest, verify or modify aprioristic principles. In outcome, an aprioristic approach is tantamount to a restriction on the freedom to act and make decisions, which could exert an impact on a society’s living conditions and prospects for development. Legal awareness, understood as a correlate of a society’s knowledge and opinion of the law, as well as its expectations of the law, is always subject to the influence of currently predominant philosophical views or narratives. In this context, apriorism separates positive law off from the system of social norms and prevents its rational criticism.

 

Keywords:

philosophy of law, apriorism, legal awareness, natural law

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Zamelski, P. (2026). The impact of apriorism on the formation of legal awareness. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 26(1), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2026.26.1.04

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