Date: 2010
Type: Thesis
Passions and the German enlightenment : the political thought of J.H.G. von Justi
Florence : European University Institute, 2010, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis
NOKKALA, Ere Pertti, Passions and the German enlightenment : the political thought of J.H.G. von Justi, Florence : European University Institute, 2010, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/14985
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This thesis is the first comprehensive interpretation of J.H.G. von Justi’s political and international thought. It demonstrates that the intellectual world of Justi was much more diverse and open than has previously been admitted. The same is true of the tradition of cameralism which has been largely misunderstood. Cameralism was not an obstacle for the reception of natural law theories that emphasised the passionate and self-interested side of the human nature. On the contrary, it was Justi who built his sciences of state on the foundation of natural law. So far those scholars who have admitted the importance of the natural law to Justi - with the exception of Horst Dreitzel - have fallen back on the idea that the natural law Justi adopted was that of Christian Wolff, an interpretation which is in itself another sign of the belief that German enlightenment was a unitary movement. However, it was the natural law of Schmauss and not of Wolff on which Justi built his theory of the state and similarly, of international relations. The German enlightenment was not a singular movement solely in the hands of rationalist metaphysicians. One of the guiding lines of this thesis is that Justi’s entire thought was constructed to oppose this tradition.
Additional information:
Defence date: 14 October 2010; Examining Board: Prof. Martin van Gelderen (European University Institute) supervisor; Prof. Hans Erich Bödeker (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, External supervisor); Prof. Pasi Ihalainen (University of Jyväskylä); Prof. Sebastian Conrad (European University Institute); PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/14985
Series/Number: EUI; HEC; PhD Thesis
Publisher: European University Institute
LC Subject Heading: Enlightenment -- Germany; Gottsched, Johann Christoph, 1700-1766
Published version: http://hdl.handle.net/1814/62204