Jean Bodin

French jurist and thinker. Born in Angers. Studied law at the University of Toulouse. Although much is unknown about his early life, it is known from his Address to the Senate and People of Toulouse on the Education of the Youth in the Commonwealth (1559) that he was sympathetic to the humanism that was gaining popularity at the time. He then went to Paris and became a lawyer at the High Court. However, little is known about his activities in the field of practice. Rather, his interests were focused on academic studies, including law. His Easier Way of Understanding History (1566) shows that his interests extended beyond political science and ethics, which deal with human behavior and political systems, to natural science, which is related to natural phenomena as a whole, and theology, which is related to God and the immortal soul. For Bodin, 1576 was a memorable year, when he participated in the Estates General of Blois as a representative of the Third Estate and published his major work, The Republic. "The Republic" is a groundbreaking work in the history of political thought, which introduced the concept of sovereignty for the first time and developed a theory of the state, preaching the need for political unity and peace centered on monarchy. At the time, France was in a state of disintegration due to the religious wars, and Bodin tried to overcome the situation through the absolute power of the monarchy. For a time, he was favored by the king's younger brother, but in his later years he retired to Laon, where he is said to have spent the rest of his life struggling with anti-monarchy Catholics.

[Tsuyoshi Sasaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの法学者、思想家。アンジェに生まれる。トゥールーズ大学で法学を学んだ。若いころの生活については不明な点が多いが、おりから盛んになりつつあった人文主義に共鳴したことは『国家における若者の教育に関して、トゥールーズの元老院および民衆に宛(あ)てる演説』（1559）から知られる。その後彼はパリに出、高等法院付弁護士になった。しかし実務の領域での活躍はほとんど伝えられていない。むしろ彼の関心は法学をはじめとする学問研究に向けられた。『歴史を容易に理解するための方法』（1566）は、彼の関心が人間行動や政治体制を扱う政治学、倫理学のみならず、自然現象全体にかかわる自然学、神および不滅の霊魂にかかわる神学に及んでいることを示している。こうしたボーダンにとって1576年は記念すべき年であり、彼はブロワの三部会に第三身分の代表として出席して活躍するとともに、主著『国家論』を刊行した。『国家論』は、政治思想史上主権という概念を初めて導入して国家論を展開した画期的作品であり、王権を中心とした政治的統一、平和の必要を説いている。おりからフランスは宗教戦争によって分裂状態に陥っており、ボーダンは王権という絶対権力によって事態を乗り切ろうとした。彼は一時王弟の好遇を得たが、晩年はランに退き、反王権派カトリック教徒との苦闘のうちに一生を終わったといわれる。

［佐々木毅］

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