The Social Value of Labor Law: the Variety of Approaches

Abstract

Initially, a distinction is made between the studied phenomenon and natural law, then with legal axioms and legal principles. The article considers the position of the German researcher R. Stammler on the definition of the social ideal used as the basis for his definition of ‘natural law with variable content’. M. Weber’s approach to emphasizing the value-rational behavior is noted, which allows separating social values from social norms. The main research methods are: historical and legal method, methods of analysis and synthesis, comparative legal and normative dogmatic methods. The article analyzes various approaches to defining the value of labor law, taking into account the value assessment of law and labor. The definition of the social value of law as an ideal phenomenon, a phenomenon of spiritual culture, formed as a result of a sufficiently long social interaction in a specific place and at a specific time (here-now). This article discusses a number of problems related to the definition of the social value of labor law. Its contents are the ideals, goals and assumed results of the existence and functioning of law. Further, three value hypostases of hired labor are identified: 1) as a source of livelihood (socio-economic value), 2) as the realization of the goal of human life set by God (religious value), 3) as a way of implementing one’s creative potential, self-expression in work (creative value). Four interrelated components are identified as the social value of
labor law: justice, equality, freedom, humanism.