Samuel Pufendorf (1632-1694)

Abstract

This chapter introduces one of the seminal figures in the historical development of the just war tradition: Samuel Pufendorf. Before delving into Pufendorf's treatment of the law of war, the chapter explicates his understanding of the fundamental principles of natural jurisprudence upon which he sought to base this law. Pufendorf conceived of his religiously neutral theory of natural law as a contribution to a new science of morality that had been inaugurated by Grotius and developed by Hobbes. When Pufendorf came to formulate his own system of the law of nature, he combined Grotius' emphasis on sociability with Hobbes' emphasis on utility. Some scholars have suggested that Pufendorf's duty of sociability generated cosmopolitan duties of mutual aid and assistance among states. Pufendorf drew from the foundational principle of sociability laws of war that protected the rights and liberties of the territorial sovereign state. Pufendorf did accept that there were some just occasions for war beyond instances of injury to oneself. Show more