Ideal of Love in Legal Policy. Evolutionary Perspective

The article analyzes the concept of the ideal of love, which was first proposed by Leon Petrażycki. The ideal of love in the works of Polish philosopher and sociologist of law serves as an axiom of practical reason, constituting an order of legal development that will lead to the universal cooperation, and not only between members of one society, but among all of humanity. The law was designed to accelerate the moral development of society, through appropriate impact on the psyche of people following rules, and at the same time it should educate them in the spirit of universal cooperation (morality). Modern research conducted in evolutionary science and primatology seems to confirm some assumptions underlying the ideal of love, but on the same time, they imposed severe restrictions on it. In the first part of the article the concept of the ideal of love is presented, including the role of law and legal policy, which should lead to its achievement. The second part of the article is devoted to the reviewing of the biological roots of morality (and law) and its evolution in the light of the work of Frans de Waal. The last part of the paper consists of the evaluation of Petrażycki’s proposal, conducted from the perspective of evolutionary science and primatology.