The Sphere and Duties of Government

Table of Contents:Preface.Chapter I.: Introduction.Chapter II.: Of the Individual Man, and the Highest Ends of His Existence.Chapter III.: On the Solicitude of the State For the Positive Welfare of the Citizen.Chapter IV.: Of the Solicitude of the State For the Negative Welfare of the Citizen—for His Security.Chapter V.: On the Solicitude of the State For Security Against Foreign Enemies.Chapter VI.: On the Solicitude of the State For the Mutual Security of the Citizens.—means For Attaining This End.—institutions For Reforming the Mind and Character of the Citizen.—national Education.Chapter VII.: Religion.Chapter VIII.: Amelioration of Morals.Chapter IX.: The Solicitude of the State For Security More Accurately and Positively Defined.—further Development of the Idea of Security.Chapter X.: On the Solicitude of the State For Security With Respect to Actions Which Directly Relate to the Agent Only. (police Laws.)Chapter XI.: On the Solicitude of the State For Security With Respect to Such of the Citizens’ Actions As Relate Directly to Others. (civil Laws.)Chapter XII.: On the Solicitude of the State For Security As Manifested In the Juridical Decision of Disputes Among the Citizens.Chapter XIII.: On the Solicitude For Security As Manifested In the Punishment of Transgressions of the State’s Laws.Chapter XIV.: On the Solicitude of the State For the Welfare of Minors, Lunatics, and Idiots.Chapter XV.: Means For the Preservation of the State Organism. Completion of the Theory.Chapter XVI.: Practical Application of the Theory Proposed.***An excerpt from the Preface:The book of which a translation is here offered to the English reader was published posthumously at Berlin, in the year 1852, by the Author’s younger brother, Alexander von Humboldt, the eminent Naturalist. It appeared under the title of ‘Ideen zu einem Versuch, die Gränzen der Wirksamkeit des Staats zu bestimmen;’ forming part of the seventh and concluding volume of the ‘Gesammelte Werke’ of its distinguished author. Written in 1791, in his early manhood, and at a time when the ideas which it unfolds were in striking contrast to the events and opinions of the day, the book was long obnoxious to the scruples of the German Censorship; and his friend Schiller, who took much interest in its publication, had some difficulty in finding a publisher willing to incur the necessary responsibility. The Author therefore retained the manuscript in his possession, revising it from time to time, and re-writing considerable portions, which appeared in Schiller’s ‘Thalia’ and the ‘Berlin Monthly Review;’ but, although the obstacles which at first opposed the issue of the book were subsequently removed, it was never given to the world in a complete form during his life. It is probable that his important official engagements,* and those profound studies in critical philology, of which we have such noble and enduring monuments in the literature of Germany, left him no leisure to revert to this the chosen subject of his earlier labours. But we cannot but feel grateful to his distinguished brother, for giving publicity to a treatise which has such strong claims to attention, whether we regard the eminence of its Author as a philosopher and a statesman, the intrinsic value of its contents, or their peculiar interest at a time when the Sphere of Government seems more than ever to require careful definition. To Englishmen, least of all, is it likely to prove unattractive or uninstructive, since it endeavours to show the theoretical ideal of a policy to which their institutions have made a gradual and instinctive approximation; and contributes important ideas towards the solution of questions which now lie so near to the heart and conscience of the English public.With respect to the translation, I have aimed at scrupulous fidelity; believing that, even where there may be some obscurity (as in one or two of the earlier chapters)... Read more