Samuel Pufendorf was een Duitse jurist en politiek filosoof wiens werk gericht was op het herzien en becommentariëren van de natuurrechtelijke theorieën van Thomas Hobbes en Hugo Grotius. Zijn denken beïnvloedde de ontwikkeling van het moderne natuurrecht en de politieke filosofie aanzienlijk. Pufendorfs analyses van juridische en morele principes vormden de intellectuele discussie van zijn tijd. Zijn nalatenschap ligt in zijn nadruk op rede en natuurrecht als fundament voor de sociale orde.
"The Present State of Germany, one of Samuel Pufendorf's earliest and most important works, was first published in 1667 under the pseudonym Severinus de Monzambano. Its blunt, colorful, and unapologetic challenge to mainstream German constitutional law made it enormously controversial as soon as it appeared, and its author was both vilified and exalted in the acrimonious debate that followed. It became one of the most reprinted books of the late seventeenth century.
Samuel Pufendorf was a pivotal figure in the early German Enlightenment. His version of voluntarist natural law theory had a major influence both on the European continent and elsewhere in the English-speaking world, particularly Scotland and America. Pufendorf's An Introduction to the History of the Principal Kingdoms and States of Europe (1682) became one of his most famous and widely reprinted works. It went through multiple editions during the eighteenth century, but its impact has largely been forgotten. Pufendorf's histories exhibited the core notions of his natural law theory by describing the development and current, reciprocal relations of individual states as collective social agents engaged in securing their own and, thus, their members' interests, including self-preservation. Hence, they essentially functioned as vehicles for philosophical demonstration or justification. Moreover, by emphasizing empirical details and legitimating (in principle) a de facto politics of interest, the histories appealed strongly to the emerging nation-states of early modern Europe, which sought ratification of their external and internal actions, policies, and pedagogies. Pufendorf based his accounts on each country's own historians and took care to describe its position from its own current and historical perspectives. It was an appealing approach to political history, judging from the long and diverse publishing record of the work. This book will be of interest to anyone concerned with the history of international law and the development of historiography during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It makes available to contemporary scholars and students a carefully edited, helpfully annotated, and historically situated English version of one of Pufendorf's most popular and influential works.-- Provided by Publisher
Exploring the themes of toleration and the separation of politics and religion, this work emerges in response to the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Pufendorf, a key figure in modern natural law, argues against the sovereign's authority to dictate the religion of subjects, emphasizing that state and religion serve distinct purposes. The book is enriched with an introduction, selected bibliography, notes, and an index, providing a comprehensive understanding of its historical context and philosophical implications.
Focusing on natural law, Samuel Pufendorf's work presents a conventional foundation that emphasizes humanity's inherent need to foster sociability. By rejecting the metaphysical theories of scholasticism, he argues that the principles of natural law arise from social interactions and the need for cooperation among individuals. This approach offers a practical perspective on moral obligations and human relationships, positioning sociability as central to understanding ethical behavior.
This work presents the basic arguments and fundamental themes of the political and moral thought of the seventeenth-century philosopher, Samuel Pufendorf--one of the most widely read natural lawyers of the pre-Kantian era. Selections from the texts of Pufendorf's two major works, Elements of Universal Jurisprudence and The Law of Nature and of Nations , have been brought together to make Pufendorf's moral and political thought more accessible. The selections included have received a new English translation, the first for both works in roughly sixty years. The editor, a political scientist, and the translator, a philosopher, have developed a volume that is comprehensive and representative of Pufendorf's thought without being repetitive, fragmented, or obscure.
This was Pufendorf's first work, published in 1660. Its appearance effectively inaugurated the modern natural-law movement in the German-speaking world. The work also established Pufendorf as a key figure and laid the foundations for his major works, which were to sweep across Europe and North America. Pufendorf rejected the concept of natural rights as liberties and the suggestion that political government is justified by its protection of such rights, arguing instead for a principled limit to the state's role in human life.
This classic text provides a comprehensive overview of European history from ancient times to the 18th century. Originally published in the 17th century, the book was continued by subsequent authors until the 19th century. It covers the major political events and cultural trends of the period, with an emphasis on the role of individual leaders and thinkers. This edition, improved by Joseph Sayer, remains a valuable historical resource for students and scholars of European history.
