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166 Book II u c h a p t e r i u Of the Natural State of Men In the next Place, we are to inquire concerning those Duties which are incumbent upon a Man with Regard to that particular State wherein he finds himself ordained by Providence to live in the World. What we mean by such State, is in general, that Condition or Degree with all its Relatives, in which Men being placed, they are therefore supposed to be obliged to these or those Performances: And such State, whatever it be, has some peculiar Rights and Offices thereunto belonging.1 The State of Man then may be distinguish’d into either Natural or Adventitious . The natural State, by the Help of the Light of natural Reason alone, is to be considered as Threefold, Either as it regards God our Creator , or as it concerns every single Man as to Himself, or as it affects other Men; concerning all which we have spoken before. 1. Tooke’s rendering of this crucial paragraph differs significantly from Pufendorf ’s original. Pufendorf wrote not of duties attaching to a particular state ordained for man by providence, but of those arising from the diverse statuses (ex diversostatu) man occupies in social life. This definitively Pufendorfian viewpoint results from his doctrine that civil duties attach not to a human essence, or telos, but to statuses instituted by man. Silverthorne’s rendering is broadly accurate: “We must next inquire into the duties which fall to man to perform as a result of the different states in which we find him existing in social life. By ‘state’ [status] in general, we mean a condition in which men are understood to be set for the purpose of performing a certain class of actions. Each state also has its own distinctive laws [jura]” (Man & Citizen, p. 115). Only Silverthorne’s choice of “laws” for jura is questionable. Here perhaps Tooke’s “Rights and Offices” better captures the spirit of Pufendorf’s formulation . I. Condition of MAN. L. N. N. l. 1. c. 1. §6, &c. II. Twofold. Natural and Adventitious. L. N. N. l. 2. c. 3. §24. according to the law of nature 167 The Natural State of Man consider’d in the first mention’d Way, is that Condition wherein he is placed by the Creator pursuant to his Divine Will, that he should be the most excellent Animal in the whole Creation . From the Consideration of which State, it follows, That Man ought to acknowledge the Author of his Being, to pay Him Adoration , and to admire the Works of His Hands; and moreover, to lead his life after a different Manner from that of the Brutes. So that the contrary to this State is the Life and Condition of Brutes. In the second Way we may contemplate the Natural State of Man, by seriously forming in our Minds an Idea of what his Condition would be, if every one were left *alone to himself without any Help from other Men.2 And in this Sense, the Natural State is opposed to a Life cultivated by the Industry of Men. After the third Way we are to regard the Natural State of Man, according as Men are understood to stand in respect to one another, merely from that common Alliance which results from the Likeness of their Natures , before any mutual Agreement made, or other Deed of Man perform ’d, by which one could become obnoxious3 to the Power of an2 . At this point, following Barbeyrac, the English editors have deleted Pufendorf ’s characterization of the life of man imagined in the absence of the mutual assistance and industry through which he compensates for his natural weakness (imbecillitas ). In Tooke’s original edition the deleted passage runs “especially considering the present circumstances under which we at this time find Human Nature: Which would certainly be much more miserable than that of a Beast, if we think with our selves, with what weakness man enters this World, so that he must immediately perish, except he be sustained by others, and how rude a Life he must lead, if he could procure nothing for himself, but by means of his own single Strength and Skill. But ’tis plain, that we owe it all to the aid of other persons, that we are able to pass through so many Infirmities from our Infancy to Manhood; that we enjoy infinite number of Conveniences...

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