HAPPINESS IN JĀNIS PLIEKŠĀNS’ (RAINIS’) PHILOSOPHY OF LAW

The aim of the current article is to analyse the reflections on happiness by lawyer, philosopher and poet Jānis Pliekšāns (Rainis). He lived at the time when the legal consciousness of statehood was developing amongst Latvians, and the Republic of Latvia was proclaimed (1918). Although Rainis has passed away almost 100 years ago (1929), his intellectual legacy still remains relevant. The research outcomes yield the conclusion that work and freedom are the pre-requisites for both personal, as well as ultimate happiness. “The formula of happiness”, in turn, is to be defined as never-ending work of self-improvement in the struggle for personal happiness with the aim to bring the whole of humanity towards happiness. On the basis of Rainis’ reflections about happiness, the author advances the thesis that, in a socially responsible state, the right to strive for happiness should be recognised as one of the fundamental principles of law.