PUFENDORF'S SOLUTION TO THE PUZZLE OF CONSENT AND NATURAL LAW

In this paper, I aim to show that Pufendorf's writings provide an innovative clarification of the respective scopes of consent and natural law that was not apparent in other works of his time. Whereas there is a natural obligation to submit to some authority, human consent has the task of determining how this authority is to be organized in particular contexts. While unfolding the workings of this argument in Pufendorf's works, I will bring out close connections between two apparently distinct notions of consent: to wit, as an internal act of the will and as a political commitment. This should shed a new light on the meaning and history of the concept of consent itself, and highlight parallels between Pufendorf's and Suárez' political theories that have not been studied so far.