The Principles of Natural and Politic Law - (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics) by Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Born in 1694, Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui helped transform the modern tradition of natural law and convey it to new generations.

Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (1694-1748) was a Swiss jurist.

Petter Korkman is a Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies and is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy at the Academy of Finland.

Review Quotes

Ably translated into English by Thomas Nugent in 1748, this edition of The Principles of Natural and Politic Law by Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (1694-1748) is expertly edited and enhanced with an Introduction by Petter Korkman (Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies and Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy at the Academy of Finland) and part of the Liberty Fund's outstanding 'Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics' series. An historical benchmark in the concept of individual rights, the writings of Burlamaqui were influential upon the work and thought of such later philosophers and political activists as Rousseau and Diderot, as well as exerting profound influence on the American Founding Fathers and their newly emerging constitutional system of governance. Indeed, Nugent's English translation became a standard textbook at both British and American universities in the 18th and 19th centuries. Also available in a hardcover edition (0865974969, $20.00), The Principles of Natural and Politic Law is a seminal addition to scholarly and academic Philosophy and Political Science History reference collections.

The Midwest Book Review
August 2006

Much evidence stacked up on my bookshelves suggests--pace Hawes--a determination to scrutinize and respect claims for the Enlightenment: Liberty Press's ongoing series Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics (which saw new editions this year of John Millar's An Historical View of the English Government: From the Settlement of the Saxons in Britain to the Revolution in 1688 and The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks, Francis Hutcheson's Logic, Metaphysics, and the Natural Sociability of Mankind, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui's The Principles of Natural and Politic Law); the several books that revalue Enlightenment aspirations as they make philosophy the master key for unlocking cultural preoccupations.

Studies in English Literature
Summer 2007