M. M. Speransky and his Worldview: Touches to the Portrait of a Statesman

Relevance. In modern conditions, it seems relevant to consider the history of the formation of Russian legislation. Now the question of the historical roots of liberalism is debatable. The problem of the birth of liberal ideas in Russia now remains without an unambiguous assessment. A study of Speransky's views is necessary to distinguish between Russian and European liberalism. M. Speransky's understanding of the rights and freedoms of citizens is also important for the modern era.
The purpose of this work is to show the difference of Speransky’s views from the European liberal doctrine.
The objectives of the study are to analyze the discussion on the problem of the emergence of liberal ideas in Russia; define Speransky's concept as a doctrine of conservative liberalism; to reveal the humanistic orientation of his concept.
Methodology. The methodological basis of the article is the dialectical method, system analysis, culturological and phenomenological approaches, which make it possible to assess the contribution and significance of Speransky's concept to the development of Russian social thought.
Results. It is shown that M.M. Speransky introduced the humanistic tradition into the system of liberalism. For the first time, Speransky's thoughts about the “Highest Liberty” are presented. Striving for good, truth, perfect law is the basis of human will, they make this Highest Liberty real. This is the origin of Speransky's doctrine of good, which is the theoretical foundation of his concept.
Conclusions. The study established the differences between Russian liberalism and European: 1) defining the humanistic basis of liberalism; 2) The source of the definition of Liberty in the Russian liberal tradition is the “mystical feeling” and the baseless principles of cognition: the search for the “incomprehensible” conditions for the movement of activity from necessity to liberty; 3) defined Russian liberalism as conservative liberalism; 4) Speransky summed up the moral and ethical foundations for the liberal doctrine.

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