The House Is in a State

The book focuses on methodology, argument and context of 18th century philosopher Christian Wolff's last book, the Oeconomica. This work, a rationalist guide to household morality, is discussed in conjunction with Wolff's natural law-based welfare state theory. A case study at a cross-section of philosophy, political science and history, it dissects the ideological conflation of private and public interest in the absolutist state.