著者
川又 祐
出版者
The Japanese Society for the History of Economic Thought
雑誌
経済学史学会年報 (ISSN:04534786)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.42, no.42, pp.84-94, 2002 (Released:2010-08-05)
参考文献数
41

Germany from the 16th to early 19th century was mostly influenced by cameralism. Generally speaking, cameralism has a broad and narrow sense, and two periods (before and after 1727). Cameralism is called a variant of mercantilism in Germany. This can be considered accurate if we interpret mercantilism in a wider sense. But first these definitions must be verified from various points of view.Roscher was the first authority on cameralism. Roscher included cameralism among the category of economics. Criticizing Roscher, Small says, “cameralism was not a theory and practice of economics but of politics. Cameralism was a technique and a theory of administering a peculiar type of state in a society constructed out of peculiar types of purposes (Small 1909, 3).” Before and after Small, Marchet, Stieda, Nielsen, Zielenziger, Sommer, Tautcher, and Tribe have made their respective interpretations. Marchet's point of view is from that of public administration, while Stieda's is from the history of the university at which a chair for cameralism had been founded in 1727. Nielsen comes from the aristotelianism, Zielenziger and Sommer come from German and Austrian mercantilism, Tautscher comes from public finance, while Tribe comes from the instituted ‘cameralism as science’ at German universities. The subject of Tribe's cameralistic study is after 1727. Their main issues were whether or not cameralism is mercantilism, and whether or not cameralism is a science (such as economics or politics). Their interpretations may differ from each other's.We can regard Seckendorff as a representative of old and new cameralists. He served at the court of Herzog Ernst in Gotha. What underlies his main book Teutscher Fürstenstat is his great deal of experience at Gotha. He wrote the book making use of his own practical experience and finally became a model cameralist; Small said that Seckendorff was the Adam Smith of cameralism (Small 1909, 69). Seckendorff's thought has been divided and refined into various branches by new cameralists (Gasser, Dithmar, Justi and Sonnenfels etc.), that is, economic science, the science of Polizei (the future public administration), and cameralism (the future public finance). Therefore, Seckendorff must be the center of attention in cameralistic study. Accordingly, our starting point is Seckendorff and his Teutscher Fürstenstat. The distinction between what new cameralists accepted from Seckendorff and what they didn't accept from him should be made clearly. This distinction can be held to characterize cameralism and at the same time determine cameralism's scope and limits.Recently, students of early modern German history have rendered great service to our learned society. For example, Brunner, Oestreich, and Stolleis have revealed to us that absolute princes in those days had not always unlimited powers. It is necessary for us to trace once more the history of cameralism, paying more attention to the important results of historian research. A strong knowledge of the German condition in those days (state, government, religion, industry, concepts of ‘happiness, welfare, Polizei and Regalien, ’ and so on) is required for a comprehensive understanding of cameralism.We have made sure and steady progress in our study of cameralism. But we should endeavor to obtain an authentic image of cameralism, adding many case and area studies to the study of cameralist literature.
著者
川又 祐
出版者
日本大学法学会
雑誌
政経研究 (ISSN:02874903)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.25, no.2, pp.p317-348, 1988-09