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De scopo

De scopo is the tenth volume published in the series Library of Old Polish Political Thought, issued by the National Center for Culture and the Alexis de Tocqueville Center for Political and Legal Thought, in cooperation with the Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro Foundation for the Support of Research on Old Polish Political Thought.

The treatise De scopo by Jan Sachs, a young scholar from Wschowa and a graduate of Helmstedt, is a brilliant defense of the political system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the criticisms of his former lecturer, the renowned German polymath Hermann Conring. It presents a clash between two political paradigms: the apotheosis of absolute monarchy — with its emphasis on order, structure, and subjugation — and the republican ethos of a limited monarchy founded on liberty and political participation. It is a confrontation between the concept of raison d'état and the classical understanding of the common good. Power and liberty thus come into conflict: for Conring, power guarantees the stability of the state, ensuring security and continuity; for Sachs, however, power must be reconciled with liberty in order to provide citizens with the Aristotelian ideal of the good life. The treatise, in yet another outstanding translation by the duo Jagoda Marszałek and Iwona Krawczyk, is preceded by a brilliant introduction by Prof. Tomasz Tulejski.

The preparation of the translation and scholarly edition of De scopo was made possible thanks to the support of the Sponsor — the PZU Group.

The project was carried out in cooperation with the National Center for Culture and co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

 

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