The definition of the philosophical foundations of a specific political and legal concept is the starting point of its analysis and criticism. This article is devoted to the identification of the basic philosophical premises of the political teaching of Boris Nikolaevich Chicherin. There is still a widespread belief that the guiding thread of all the philosophical constructions of the Russian thinker was the transposition of the foundations of Hegelian philosophy. However, Chicherin's developments also reveal the influence of Kant’s philosophy and Christian metaphysics; independent reflections of the author cannot be enclosed in the framework of any paradigm. The most clearly polarized positions of Hegel and Chicherin are found in the philosophy of the personality of the Russian thinker. From Chicherin's point of view, in the system of the classic of German philosophy, the personality turns out to be absorbed by a common spiritual substance, being only its private constituent element that does not possess self-worth. Chicherin himself proceeded from the assertion of the highest value and absolute likeness of the human personality, which was justified by its participation in the Divine Principle. This provision supported the thesis that a person has free will. On these grounds, the philosophical-right theory of the thinker was erected. The purpose of the work is to substantiate the consideration of the personalistic principle as a starting point of Chicherin's constructions in the field of philosophy of law. It is found that the idea of the highest value of the human personality, the inviolability of its identity and freedom was the starting point for the philosopher's constructions in the field of political, economic and legal theory, when solving national and religious issues. By comparing Chicherin's views with the views of other personalist philosophers, it is demonstrated that in the sphere of political theorizing, the personalistic principle can have various variations of disclosure.
