Samuel von Pufendorf
German natural-law jurist (Of the Law of Nature and Nations, 1672), a standard text in colonial colleges.
Ask Samuel von Pufendorf a question
Answers come only from his own recorded words, with every quotation checked against its source.
Who he was
Samuel von Pufendorf was a German jurist. His Of the Law of Nature and Nations (1672) and The Whole Duty of Man set out a system of natural law that was a standard text in colonial colleges.
Why he is at the Seat
Pufendorf is on the Lutz-based roster. He is the Seat's voice on the law of nature and the duties it lays on people and on nations.
What we hold
- Editions
- Of the Law of Nature and Nations (scanned text of the 1729 printing)
- The Whole Duty of Man (scanned text of the 1735 printing)
- Size
- About 1.3 million words. Word counts are whole files, so they include editors' headnotes and footnotes.
- Translation
- English translations: Basil Kennett (1729) and Andrew Tooke (1735).
Known limits
- Only rough scanned text of 18th-century type is available here. Quotations keep the old long s exactly as scanned ("muft" for "must"), with a note.
- Barbeyrac's notes are not separated from the text. Every Online Library of Liberty edition is a modern one under copyright.
Questions he answers well
The questions his engine was tested on before it opened.
- What is the law of nature, and how does it bind nations to one another?
Published answers
- May a subject ever resist the sovereign?
- Are promises and contracts binding?
- What do people owe one another by the law of nature?
- When is war lawful?
- What is property, and how is it acquired?
- What are the duties of a sovereign?
- What is the origin of civil society?
- What is the law of nature, and how does it bind nations to one another?
More in Prior Questions.