Samuel Von Pufendorf - Legacy

Legacy

Pufendorf's influence was considerable, and he has left a profound impression on thought, and not on that of Germany alone. Locke, Rousseau, and Diderot all recommended his inclusion in law curricula, and Pufendorf greatly influenced Blackstone and Montesquieu. By way of these thinkers, Pufendorf was introduced to and utilized by American Founders such as Hamilton, Madison, and Jefferson as they formulated the political thought of the new Republic. Pufendorf is seen as an important precursor of Enlightenment in Germany. He was involved in constant quarrels with clerical circles and frequently had to defend himself against accusations of heresy.

But the value of his work has been historically underestimated. Much of the responsibility for this may be attributed to Pufendorf's feuds with Leibniz, since they were often intellectual adversaries; indeed, Leibniz once dismissed Pufendorf as "vir parum jurisconsultus et minime philosophus" (roughly: "He is not much of a lawyer, and least of all a philosopher"). It was on the subject of the pamphlet of Severinus de Monzambano that their quarrel began. The conservative and timid Leibniz was beaten on the battlefield of politics and public law, and the aggressive spirit of Pufendorf further aggravated the dispute, and so widened the division. From that time the two writers could never discuss a common subject without attacking each other.