1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910973041103321

Autore

Pufendorf Samuel, Freiherr von, <1632-1694.>

Titolo

The present state of Germany / / Samuel Pufendorf ; translated by Edmund Bohun, 1696 ; edited and with an introduction by Michael J. Seidler

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Indianapolis, : Liberty Fund, c2007

ISBN

1-61487-854-4

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (313 p.)

Collana

The works of Samuel Pufendorf

Natural law and enlightenment classics

Altri autori (Persone)

SeidlerMichael J. <1950->

BohunEdmund

Disciplina

342.43029

Soggetti

Constitutional history - Holy Roman Empire

Constitutional law - Holy Roman Empire

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-258) and index.

Nota di contenuto

""Samuel Pufendorf, The Present State of Germany ""; ""Front Matter ""; ""Title Page ""; ""Copyright Details ""; ""Table of Contents ""; ""Introduction, p. ix ""; ""A Note on the Text, p. xxix ""; ""Acknowledgments, p. xxxv ""; ""Pufendorf's Preface to the First Edition of 1667 ""; ""Preface to the Second Edition (1706), p. 9 ""; ""To the Reader, p. 15 ""; ""The Contents, p. 17 ""; ""Chapter I. Of the Origene of the German Empire, p. 25 ""; ""Chapter II. Of the Members of which the present German Empire is composed, p. 49 ""; ""Chapter III. Of the Origene of the States of the Empire

and by what Degrees they arrived to that Power they now have, p. 80 """"Chapter IV. Of the Head of the German Empire, the Emperor, and of the Election and the Electors, p. 96 ""; ""Chapter V. Of the Power of the Emperor, as it now stands limited by Treaties;  and the Laws and Customs of the Empire;  and the Rights of the States of Germany, p. 111 ""; ""Chapter VI. Of the Form of the German Empire, p. 159 ""; ""Chapter VII. Of the Strength and Diseases of the German Empire, p. 179 ""; ""Chapter VIII. Of the German State-Interest, p. 210 ""; ""Bibliography, p. 249 ""; ""Index, p. 259 ""

Sommario/riassunto

Although "The Present State of Germany" was first made available in



English over three centuries ago, it has been virtually unavailable in English since the period of the American Founding.By 1696, Pufendorf was well known in England as a staunch defender of the Protestant cause and as one of the renovators of natural law. His writings were familiar to such luminaries as Locke and figured prominently in James Tyrell's "Patriarcha non Monarcha" (1681).The editor of this volume, Michael J. Seidler, describes this work of Pufendorf as "an account of German constitutional law detailing the historical relations between the Emperor and the Estates as well as an examination of the legitimating foundations of Imperial authority, a general analysis of the nature and requirements of political sovereignty, and a reconceptualization of the different forms of political order. . . . Its central distinction between so-called regular and irregular states, resting on the question of the locus of sovereignty, demotes the traditional political categories into mere administrative possibilities and thereby creates a more general problematic of freedom and authority with which we are still wrestling today. That is, it raises, at a very early stage in the contractarian tradition which we have inherited, the basic question of how effective political unity is compatible with competing values of diversity and individual liberty."Samuel Pufendorf (1632-1694) was one of the most important figures in early-modern political thought. An exact contemporary of Locke and Spinoza, he transformed the natural law theories of Grotius and Hobbes, developed striking ideas of toleration and of the relationship between church and state, and wrote extensive political histories and analyses of the constitution of the German empire.Edmund Bohun (1645-1699) was an English press license official and political writer who ended up as chief justice of South Carolina.Michael J. Seidler is Professor of Philosophy at Western Kentucky University.Knud Haakonssen is Professor of Intellectual History at the University of Sussex, England.