Table Of ContentT H E
P U F E N D O R F
L E C T U R E S
Annotations from the teaching of
S a m u e l
P u f e n d o r f
1672–1674
Edited by B O L I N D B E RG
kungl. vitterhets historie
och antikvitets akademien
handlingar
filologisk-filosofiska serien 23
KVHAA HANDLINGAR Filologisk-filosofiskaserien23
PortraitofSamuelPufendorf(1632–1694),byJohannUlrichKraus.Thedistichbelow
recommendsthestudyofhisworkstoknowhimbetter.Asimilarrelationexistsbetween
themanuscriptsherepublishedandtheoriginaltextsofPufendorf.
T h e
P u f e n d o r f
L e c T u r e s
Annotations from the teaching of
S a m u e l P u f e n d o r f
1672–1674
B o L i n d B e r g (ed.)
KUNGL. VITTERHETS HISTORIE OCH
ANTIKVITETS AKADEMIEN
HANDLINGAR
Filologisk-filosofiskaserien23
Lindberg, Bo (ed.). 2014. The Pufendorf Lectures. Annotations from the teaching of
SamuelPufendorf1672–1674. Kungl.VitterhetsHistorieochAntikvitetsAkademien
(KVHAA),Handlingar,Filologisk-filosofiskaserien23.Stockholm2014.223p.
Abstract
ThisisaneditionoftwomanuscriptswithnotestakenduringSamuelPufendorf’steach-
ingattheUniversityofLundintheearly1670s.Theshortermanuscriptconsistsofan-
notationsfromlecturesonDejurenaturaeetgentium,thelengthierrendersnotestaken
duringlecturesonDeofficiohominisetcivis.ThetextsshowPufendorf’sdoctrineatthe
pedagogiclevel,asitwaspresentedtostudentsimmediatelyafterhisbookswerepub-
lished.Theeffectofthatisthatnaturallawisimbeddedinreligion;Biblicalreferencesare
numerouscomparedtointheprintedbooks.Still,manycommentsreflectPufendorf’s
conflictwithlocaladversariesinLundandwithLutherantheologiansinGermany.The
mainmessage,however,isthatnaturallaw,i.e.Pufendorf,shouldreplaceAristotleas
foundationfortheteachingofmoralphilosophy.
Keywords
Pufendorf,lectures,naturallaw,moralphilosophy,Aristotle,JohannScheffer,Hobbes,
stateofnature
©2014BoLindbergandKVHAA,Stockholm
ISBN978-91-7402-426-5
ISSN0083-677X
PublisherKungl.VitterhetsHistorieochAntikvitetsAkademien
(KVHAA,TheRoyalSwedishAcademyofLetters,HistoryandAntiquities),
Box5622,SE-11486Stockholm,www.vitterhetsakad.se
Distributioneddy.seab,Box1310,SE-62124Visby,
http://vitterhetsakad.bokorder.se
GraphicdesignLarsPaulsrud
CoverThefirstpageofthemanuscriptwithlecturenotesonDeofficiohominisetcivis.
(NationalLibraryofSweden,Stockholm.)
PrintedbyElandersFälth&Hässler,Mölnlycke,Sweden2014
con t e n ts
Introduction 7
Background 8
Themanuscripts 13
Naturallawasmoralphilosophy 23
Theedition 39
Bibliography 42
Observationes super librum de J. N. & G.
[De jure naturae et gentium] Puffendorfii
ex ipsius Auctoris ore in collegio privato
Londini Scanorum A:o 1672 Mens. Septemb
excerptae 46
Observationes in libellum Sam: Pufendorfii
de officio hominis et civis ex publicis
lectionibus auctoris Ao 1673 d. 11 Febr. 74
Appendices 217
Acknowledgements 223
I n t roduct Ion
Samuel Pufendorf (1632–1694)isakeyfigureinthehistoryofEuro-
peanpoliticalthoughtandmoralphilosophy,rankingjustbehindHugo
Grotius and Thomas Hobbes. His theory of natural law was immensely
influentialattheendofthe17thcenturyandinthefollowing100years:
itdominatedattheuniversitiesofLutheranEuropeandhadsubstantial
impactinFranceandtheEnglish-speakingcountries.Muchresearchhas
beendevotedtothepolitical,philosophicalandtheologicalaspectsofhis
thought, to the spread of his ideas and to the contexts where they were
formedandreceived.Thisvolumepresentssourcespertainingtotheme-
diationofhisthoughtinaparticularandhithertounnoticedcontext–the
academicpulpit.ItisaneditionofnotestakenduringPufendorf’slectures
inLundintheearly1670s.Themanuscriptscommentonhistwoworks
onnaturallawthatappearedduringhisstayinLund.Onemanuscriptis
shortandcontainsthebeginningofaseriesoflecturesonDejurenaturae
etgentium(1672).Theotherislongerandofferscommentsonthewholeof
Deofficiohominisetcivis(1673).
No other annotations from lectures given by Pufendorf are known.
Thatinitselfisareasontopublishthem:sourcesconnectingtoprominent
personsmayprovevaluablefromunforeseenaspects.Butthevalueofthe
editionshouldbemoreclearlyarticulated.Therearefamousmeninthe
history of learning whose thought is known to us only through lecture
notes–AristotleanddeSaussureforexample.Thatisnotthecasehere.
Pufendorf’sdoctrineisknowntousthroughthebooksthathadjustap-
pearedwhenhecommentedontheminthespecificcontextofacademic
8 the pufendorf lectures
teaching.Theannotationsrepresentadelicateprocessofmediation:first
whatPufendorfchosetoemphasizewhenpresentinghisbookstohisaudi-
ence;secondwhatthestudentswhotooknoteswereabletograsporfound
interesting;andthird,themodificationthatmayhaveoccurredwhenthe
notesweretransformedintoareadablemanuscriptafterwards.
Thepedagogicalcontextmaybearestrictionifonelooksforelaborate
theory in the manuscripts. University professors in 17th century Sweden
werenotencouragedtolingerontheoreticalsubtletiesintheirteaching,
tosaynothingofsubversiveideas,andoneshouldnotexpectPufendorf
tohavepresentedmoreinnovativethoughtasateacherthanasawriter.
Ontheotherhand,themanuscriptseditedinthisvolumeshowhisclear
intentions about the role of his doctrine in university teaching: natural
lawshouldreplaceAristotleinmoralphilosophy.Intheintroductionto
thelecturesonDeofficiohepointsoutthatAristotelianethicsandpolitics
pertainonlytoancientGreeksociety,incontrasttouniversalnaturallaw.
Thatargumentsuggestsamorevisionarypedagogiccontextofnaturallaw
than the mere training of students. The overall aim of his doctrine was
pedagogic.Allmankindwastobeeducated.Ourdiscipline,heasseverated
afewyearslaterinthemidstofhisquarrelswiththetheologians,wasnot
inventedtoprovidetopicsforacademicdispute,butinordertobringthe
actionsofindividualsandnationsinconcordancewithit.1
Background
TheUniversityofLundwasfoundedin1668.Locatedintheprovinceof
Skåne,itsaimwastocontributetotheintegrationofthenewlyconquered
provinceintotheSwedishkingdom.Duringitsfirsteightyears,however,
itwasaninternationaluniversitywithstudentsandprofessorsfromSwe-
den,DenmarkandGermany.TheGermanprofessorsbroughtwiththem
thepolemicalacademiccultureoftheirhomeland,includingthehabitof
publishinganonymousorpseudonymouspamphletswithfeignedplaces
of publication. Pufendorf was among the first of the scholars recruited
1. “Specimencontroversiarum”,III:2,inPufendorf:ErisScandica,2002,p.132:“Neque
inventaestnostradisciplina,utdisputandimateriampraebeat,sedutactionesacnego-
tiatumsingulorumhominum,tumintegrorumpopulorumadeandemexigantur.”
Description:Samuel Pufendorf (1632–1694), the famous theorist on natural law in 17th century Europe, was a professor at the University of Lund in Sweden from 1668 to 1676. At Lund he is commemorated every year in the Pufendorf Lectures given by renowned international scholars. This book contains his original
