Cette collection explore des textes importants et souvent peu conventionnels des Lumières concernant le droit naturel. Couvrant les XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles avec plus de quarante volumes, elle offre une exploration approfondie de la pensée libérale classique. La série éclaire le développement de ces idées à travers la philosophie morale, la théorie politique, la jurisprudence et la théologie. Elle offre aux lecteurs une compréhension nuancée d'une ère intellectuelle charnière.
Heineccius's theory of natural law was in many ways an independent development situated both temporally and philosophically between the earlier natural law tradition of Samuel Pufendorf and Christian Thomasius, and the later theories of Christian Wolff. This book presents an overview of the wide-ranging European discourse on natural law.
Heineccius's natural law theory represents a distinct evolution between earlier thinkers like Pufendorf and later theorists such as Wolff. Unlike Pufendorf, who linked natural law to human nature, Heineccius based it solely on the divine will. The 1737 publication of his Methodical System, translated by George Turnbull in 1742, marked a significant contribution to natural law discourse. Turnbull, an influential figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, provided extensive commentaries and an independent Discourse, enriching the philosophical landscape of moral thought.