Comments on Wojciech Dzieduszycki’s Reflections on the State and Law

Abstract

Conservatives in Galicia during the Austro-Hungarian monarchy exerted an overwhelming influence on political and social life. Among the conservative groups and parties, there were the so-called Podolaks, to which Wojciech Dzieduszycki belonged, writer, politician and philosopher. He wrote about the genesis and concept of law, the functions of the state and the scope of state power. He spoke against the law that regulates all manifestations of human life, because social relations are also regulated by moral and religious norms. Dzieduszycki was critical of socialism and all excessive forms of state intervention because he was against excessive state power. Based on Dzieduszycki’s reflections on the state and law, it can be concluded that he was an advocate of evolutionary conservatism.