IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAW THE NEW BOOK BY PROFESSOR I.A. ISAYEV "THE SHADOW SIDE OF THE LAW. IRRATIONAL IN THE LAW". М.: PROSPECT, 2015. - 368 P.)

The article represents critical notes made by the authors in the margins of the book devoted to the research of the issues of law formation from the perspective of transcendental categories of "myth", "mysticism", "magic." In Prof. Isaev's opinion, these categories have largely determined the course of formation and development of European law and its corresponding political and legal ideas. The title of the research work, "The Shado w Side of the Law", suggests that the author of the monograph intends to devote the reader into the intricacies of behind-the-scenes conflicts of interests between financial and industrial groups struggling for law that upholds their values and interests. However, the essence of the book is reduced to finding the answers to the questions: "Does the quintessence of law exist?"; "Does the nature of law depend on the spirit of the time?"; "Where does the law come from and what limits it?"; "What causes the appearance of law?"; "What form does the law take?"; "By means of what does law influence the course of development of the processes of objective reality?". The monograph appeals to upholding the viability of the natural law theory and viewing law under the irrational perspective. It is not unexpected that the author uses the term "irrational" n the title of the book, because the author considers the centrifugal force of the process of law formation under the perspective of myth, mystery and magic. It is impossible to a priori accept all provisions of the reviewed research, as well as not to mention its strong points. Among the primary merits of the research we should mention the novelty of the problems raised and resolved, namely, the problem of correlation between a rational element of law and an element that goes beyond explanation, which turns out to help to show immanent ties of law with the society's world perception at a certain stage of social development rather than to be an idle activity. Indeed, some elements of both mythological and mysterious perception of the world from the past are brought with the wind of history to our present day and manifest themselves in different legal systems.

law, Enlightenment, myth, the law, justice, legal naturalism, legal positivism, irrationalism, power, law formation