Christian Thomasius: Ausgewählte Werke, Band 3. Institutiones jurisprudentiae divinae

The ‘Institutiones jurisprudentiae divinae’ is the first natural law textbook by Christian Thomasius. Despite the emphasised factual proximity to Pufendorf's natural law, Thomasius went his own way. By identifying man's rational nature with his social nature, Thomasius established the fundamental principle of natural law: one must do that which is consistent with the social life of mankind and refrain from doing that which is contrary to it. The aim of his doctrine of natural law is to provide a basis for jurisprudence in particular. The ‘Institutiones’ represent an important element in the practical philosophy of the first German Enlightenment philosopher.