Philosophy of Crime: Existential Aspects and Dimensions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56294/sctconf20251537Keywords:
existential emptiness, internal conflict, philosophy of existentialism, philosophy of law, moralityAbstract
Introduction: The purpose of the study is to explore existential aspects of crime through the prism of philosophical analysis.
Methods: Systematic analysis, factor extraction method and analysis of data from the open sources were used in this work. The phenomenological method explores the subjective lived experiences of individuals to uncover how existential states like freedom, guilt, and alienation shape criminal behavior. The thematic analysis method identifies and interprets recurring themes in literature to understand the existential dimensions of crime qualitatively.
Results: Data analysis showed that a general tendency for criminality rate reduction was observed during 2020-2022 in the countries with different levels of economic development and social stability. For example, the criminality rate in Germany has reduced from 3200 events in 2020 to 3000 in 2022 amidst economic growth. In countries, with lower economic development levels such as Poland and Bulgaria, criminality reduction was also noted, although it was slower. At the same time, the criminality rate remained higher in countries with high social inequality levels such as Bulgaria and Ukraine.
Conclusions: The study showed that criminality is related to social stability and security in society. Countries with high economic development and trust in government have lower criminality rates. Social inequality and feelings of injustice can contribute to the increase in criminal activity, especially among vulnerable groups of the population.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Tetiana Borysova , Oleksandr Lavryk , Kostiantyn Orobets , Volodymyr Fiedosieiev , Halyna Zharovska (Author)

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