In spite of the different methodological approach, the De jure naturae et gentium retains the essential features of the natural law theory already present in the Elements: the program of a scientific approach to natural law, a theory of the moral world grounded in a voluntarist concept of law, a concept of sociality as a basic obligation of natural law imposed by God and suited to human nature in all its rational and sensory aspects, natural equality as a basic feature of sociality leading to a contractual foundation of human society and the state,35 and a contract-based and secular concept of sovereignty as a guarantor of order in a diffracted and confessionalized society.36 Because the Elements lacks the copious citations of the mature work but treats matters in more detail than the textbook, the De officio, it offers a compact and readable introduction to Pufendorf’s legal and political thought.
During Pufendorf’s lifetime seven editions of the Latin text appeared: The Hague 1660, Jena 1660, Zwickau 1668, Jena 1669, Cambridge 1672, Frankfurt and Jena 1680, and Frankfurt 1694. The only modern translation is the English by William Abbott Oldfather based on the text of the Cambridge 1672 edition. Supplied with scanty philological notes and a photographic reprint of the Latin text, it was published in 1931 in the Classics of International Law Series by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (vol. 15). Parts of the Elements were also translated in a selection of texts edited by Craig L. Carr and translated by Michael Seidler.1 I was responsible for a definitive Latin edition published as volume 3 of Samuel Pufendorf, Gesammelte Werke (general editor Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann). It is based on the Latin text of the first edition (1660) and supplemented by the appendix on the moral sphere that was added to editions since 1669. Like all of the Gesammelte Werke, this is a critical variorum edition that is primarily directed to a scholarly audience well acquainted with the Latin language.
The present edition is a revision of Oldfather’s translation from 1931, which has been checked for mistranslations of the Latin text of 1672.2 A great part of my revisions concern inconsistencies in the translation of technical terms, which I have standardized to their proper English equivalents. Where a term requires deviation from the standard translation, the Latin original is added in square brackets. Thus Oldfather translates potestas, an active moral power to perform a voluntary action legitimately,3 as “authority” in most instances but sometimes switches to “power,” even in contexts where potestas has clearly been used in the normative sense. Here the translation has been standardized to “authority,” while potentia, a (natural) power or potency, is translated throughout as “power.” In those few instances where potestas has been used in the sense of a natural power, it will be rendered as “power [potestas].” In the instances where the Latin auctoritas (or autoritas) had also been translated as authority, I have added the Latin in brackets. In the case of imperium, which denotes an “authority over the persons of others,”4 Oldfather’s translation switches between “command,” “authority,” and “sovereignty,” according to the different contexts. Since Pufendorf primarily uses imperium as a technical term for the highest authority in the state, the translation has been standardized to “sovereignty” in most instances. In those few cases where imperium denotes the authority of commanding in a more general sense or a subordinate authority (for example, of a commanding officer), “command [imperium]” is used.
Oldfather’s annotations, which predominantly deal with misprints in the Latin text, have for the most part been dropped in favor of new annotations by the present editor. Readers interested in philological aspects of the Latin text are referred to the philological annotations to my critical Latin edition. Those Oldfather notes that have been retained are preceded by an asterisk and have “Tr.” (translator) at the end of the note. The new annotations give short explanations on background and on items dealt with in the text that might be strange to modern readers. In particular, they identify allusions and references not made explicit by Pufendorf in the Elements. Sometimes this identification requires a consideration of sources cited in JNG that might also be seen as probable sources of the Elements insofar as their publication dates preceded that of the Elements. When the annotation refers to sources cited in JNG, their citation follows the English Oldfather edition of JNG. For the reader’s convenience modern editions of these sources are given in the bibliography.
Page breaks in the 1931 edition are indicated in the present edition by the use of angle brackets. For example, page 112 begins after <112>.
Thomas Behme
WORKS OF SAMUEL PUFENDORF
| Eris | Eris Scandica und andere polemische Schriften über das Naturrecht. Edited by Fiammetta Palladini. Vol. 5 of Gesammelte Werke, edited by Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2002. |
| JNG | De jure naturae et gentium libri octo. Translated by C. H. and W. A. Oldfather. Carnegie Institution Classics of International Law, edited by James Brown Scott, 17. Oxford: Clarendon Press; London: Humphrey Milford, 1934. |
| Off. | The Whole Duty of Man, According to the Law of Nature (De officio hominis et civis). Translated by Andrew Tooke, 1691. Edited by Ian Hunter and David Saunders. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003. |
| Statu | Samuel Pufendorf’s “On the Natural State of Men.” The 1678 Latin edition and English translation. Translated, annotated, and introduced by Michael Seidler. Studies in the History of Philosophy 13. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen, 1990. |
OTHER WORKS
| Dig. | Justinian. Digests. Vols. 2–11 of The Civil Law, Including the Twelve Tables, the Institutes of Gaius, the Rules of Ulpian, the Opinions of Paulus, the Enactments of Justinian, and the Constitutions of Leo. Translated by Samuel Parsons Scott. Cincinnati and New York: Central Trust Company, 1932. |
| Inst. | Justinian, Institutes. Vol. 2 of The Civil Law, Including the Twelve Tables, the Institutes of Gaius, the Rules of Ulpian, the Opinions of Paulus, the Enactments of Justinian, and the Constitutions of Leo. Translated by Samuel Parsons Scott. Cincinnati: Central Trust Company, 1932. |
| JBP | Hugo Grotius. De jure belli ac pacis libri tres. Translated by Francis W. Kelsey. Edited by James Brown Scott. 2 vols. Carnegie Institution Classics of International Law 3. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925. |
| W.A. | Martin Luther. Werke. Weimarer Ausgabe. Weimar: Böhlau, 1883–2005. |
THE PRESENT WORK
| Def. | Definition |
| Observ. | Observation |
BY
SAMUEL PUFENDORF
Together with
an Appendix on the Moral Sphere
and Indexes
Latest and most accurate edition
CAMBRIDGE
FROM THE HOUSE OF JOHN HAYES
Printer to the most Celebrated University
1672