The first attempt for the history of «The Science of Natural Law»

Abstract

The article is an introduction to the translation of the first chapter “On the Origin and the Progress of the Science of Natural Law” from the treatise “Sample of controversies on natural law, which were caused by himself [i.e. by Pufendorf” (1678) of the German jurist, philosopher and historian Samuel Pufendorf (1632–1694). The paper clarifies the historical path of the term “natural law” (“jus naturale”) as it applied to the early modern and contemporary historiography of moral philosophy. It is claimed that a decisive factor of the effectiveness of the model outlined in the “On the Origin and the Progress” is both retrospective and prospective awareness of the natural law tradition, that is, quite clear a vision of its conceptual and theoretical sources together with a consistent view of the progress in elaborating natural law theory. In the introduction different contexts of “On the Origin and the Progress” are analyzed, as well as its role in the structure of the entire treatise. The topics and main points of the chapters of “Sample of controversies” are listed, followed by and connected to the analysis of the structure of its first chapter. Three methodological guidelines are stated, which according to Pufendorf should be followed to accomplish the task of constructing “the system of natural law which is full and accommodated to the comprehension by all mankind”. That is 1) the avoidance of all religious and theological issues and orientation only to the most evident and therefore universal human values; 2) the consistency, which stems from making a deductive system embracing all what is pertaining to natural law and resting on some clear stated hypothesis; 3) deep theoretical substantiation from an elaborated knowledge of the human nature in respect to moral actions and social interaction.