The role of the complementarity principle in the theory of law

The article analyzes the features of the application of the general scientific principle of complementarity in social and humanitarian studies from the point of view of the possibility of a more comprehensive description and explanation of law in the framework of its general theory. The purpose is to substantiate the use of that methodological principle in the field of legal research for resolving such epistemological issues of the theory of law and legal science in general as: unlimited relativism of legal understanding; disciplinary isolation and self-sufficiency of legal theory; legitimization of the pluralistic vision of law in legal science, that is, overcoming fundamentalism and onesidedness of legal theories focused only on one aspect of the manifestations of law in the life of society. The necessity of constructing a theory of law taking into account the above methodological basis is demonstrated, which, in particular, would contribute, firstly, to the development of an integrative understanding of law, allowing for a more operational application of that general theoretical concept in specific empirical studies, secondly, closer integration of jurisprudence with other socio-humanitarian sciences, and thirdly, the formation of a more multidimensional socio-cultural image of law in scientific and educational discourses.