Staat und Gesellschaft bei Christian Thomasius und Christian Wolff

Although S. v. Pufendorf, Chr. Thomasius (1655–1728), and Chr. Wolff (1679–1754) represent the most important German legal scholars of early and high German Enlightenment respectively, they have been widely ignored by the history of political thought. Based on the results especially of philosophical, juridical and Germanic research, the study exposes in systematic reconstruction the political theories generated by the doctrines of natural law of both authors Thomasius receives his overdue rehabilitation as a political thinker with a preliberal orientation. Wolff‹s ontologically founded absolutist welfare state undergoes a reinterpretation, based on thorough sourcereading, which is aimed to dismiss shortening depictions.