Esteem and sociality in Pufendorf’s natural law theory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21597872 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Heikki Haara (0000-0002-7722-5123, University of Helsinki, corresponding author), Kari Saastamoinen (0000-0002-0757-0618, University of Helsinki) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 265-283 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal for the History of Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0960-8788 • E-ISSN: 1469-3526 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09608788.2022.2075824 |
| OpenAlex | W4282838514 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 17 |
Samuel Pufendorf’s major work on natural law, De jure nature et gentium, included a long chapter on the power of the civil sovereign to determine the value of citizens. There, Pufendorf identified several forms of esteem (existimatio), according to which human beings are ranked in social life. The article argues that behind Pufendorf’s discussion of this topic was the idea that the way people esteem others and want others to esteem them has profound consequences for maintaining peaceful social life and is therefore morally regulated by the fundamental natural-law duty to maintain sociality. The article explores the key elements of Pufendorf’s multifaceted analyses of esteem, making apparent how they were connected to sociality. The article also analyses Pufendorf’s argument for the duty to esteem other humans as one’s equals by nature, questioning the view that this relied on the idea of human dignity understood as an intrinsic value of human beings. Pufendorf’s argument for this duty was a part of same project as his analyses of existimatio, namely, to define how natural law regulates the way human beings esteem each other, and it relied on his observations concerning the character of human self-esteem
Dignity · Duty · Epistemology · Natural law · Political science · Sociality · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · History · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought · War, Ethics, and Justification · Ecology
Leviathan
Kant’s Idea of Human Dignity
Kant on Human Dignity
Pufendorf on Morality, Sociability, and Moral Powers
Der Andere – „ut aeque homo“
Pufendorf’s Theory of Sociability
Pufendorf and Leibniz on duties of esteem in diplomatic relations
Smithian Sentimentalism Anticipated
De Jure Naturae et Gentium
Enemies of Mankind
Beyond Justice
Pufendorf on Natural Equality, Human Dignity, and Self-Esteem
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |