The Whole Duty of Man, According to the Law of Nature

Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics

by Samuel von Pufendorf

Samuel Pufendorf’s The Whole Duty of Man, According to the Law of Nature suggested a purely conventional basis for natural law. Rejecting scholasticism’s metaphysical theories, Pufendorf found the source of natural law in humanity’s need to cultivate sociability.

Samuel Pufendorf (1632–1694) taught natural law and was court historian in both Germany and Sweden.

Ian Hunter is Australian Professorial Fellow in the Centre for the History of European Discourses, University of Queensland.

David Saunders is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Arts at Griffith University.

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Genres: Philosophy

399 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Baron Samuel von Pufendorf was a German jurist, political philosopher, economist, statesman, and historian. His name was just Samuel Pufendorf until he was ennobled in 1684; he was made a Freiherr (baron) a few months before his death in 1694. Among his achievements are his commentaries and revisions of the natural law theories of Thomas Hobbes and Hugo Grotius.

Reviews

[Hugo Sexton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pufendorf's work is a valuable addition to natural law theory. In following this tradition, he justifies man's duties to his community and others in secular terms while not disputing the existence of God. For Pufendorf, the aim of the state or the sovereign power is the security and sociability of the citizens. As such, he sees the church and the state as serving separate purposes (the church aiming for salvation) so concludes that they should not be combined.
Pufendorf's philosophy is a good amendment to that of Hugo Grotius, who is referenced extensively in this work. The main distinction between these two natural law theorists is that Grotius believes that human nature is inherently social and natural law is the realisation of this inherent trait, whereas Pufendorf believes that in order to preserve the sociability of man, natural law must be codified into positive civil law. This has the benefit of emphasising the role of sociability in human nature without discrediting the presence of discord and competition, or implying that sociability is inevitable in a society.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff. The editorial footnotes are very helpful as well.