Lars Niléhn 58 Thus he regarded politics as intentional acts.“^ This was grounded on the idea of state interest, even if this idea has been interpreted in different ways. The presentation of the text, not least in the monographs, seems to be annalistic. In this Pufendorf is very much a man of his time, if more advanced theoretically. It seems as if he is drowning in the overwhelming wealth of material, that he has difficulties in seeing what is important and what is not, and that his selection of material is arbitrary.-^ On this some comments will be given below. It has been said by Meinecke that Pufendorf wrotehistory as “architecturally stylized negotiations. Opinions differ as to the role history played for Pufendorf. He obviously considered it as an important, even crucial, field of study.-® It is also clear that it is in some way integrated into his political system.-^ As indicated above, there existed in that period a strong tie between legal studies and historiography. To Pufendorf history was largely contemporary history seen from the point of view of state interests. However, these interests did not stand above moral theory. In fact, they had to be in accord on the one hand with jus gentium and ]us naturale, and, on the other, with the ]us particulare of the state. One task for history was to seek suitable models in the past, even if these as such did not give any knowledge of the actual state interests. Natural law functioned here as a norm.-® The special task of history was to observe constants as well as changes, to see the particular in the multitude and with this as a point of departure to seek the core of the state’s interest.-® It has also been put forward that contemporary history, which Pufendorf spent his later years writing, in fact was limited by state interest. In other words, contemporary politics could serve as an instrument of selection.®® There are differing opinions on the relationship Pufendorf’s theory of natural law has to his theory of the state or to his writings on history. He uses the method of natural law in his famous work De Jurae Naturae et Gentium (1672). But in it he was not able to make use of the knowledge which, as an author of political topics, he had of the interests of particular ” 25 -® Friedrich Meinecke, Die Idee der Staatsräson, Munchen 1925. p 280. Ritter p 202. Ernst Salzer, Der Dbertritt des grossen Kurfiirsten der schwedischen auf die polnisclie Seitc wiihrend des ersten nordischen Krieges in Pufendorfs ‘‘Carl Gustav” und “Friedrich Wilhelm”, Heidelberg 1904. p 85. Meinecke p 300 f. -® Horst Denzer, Moralphilosophie und Naturrecht bei Samuel Pufendorf, Munchen 1972. p 232 ff. Krieger p 190 ff, 195. Hammerstein 1972 p 240. ^ ibid, p 240 f. Meinecke p 287, 293, Krieger p 189 ff. 28
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