Justi's Essay on Universal Monarchy (1747): A Misunderstood Satire

Abstract

Introduction Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi’s (1717–1771)1 work has proved difficult to contextualise and interpret. There is consensus that he was one of the most influential German political and economic writers from the 1750s to 1770s; however, evaluations of the value and originality of his work vary greatly. Traditionally, Justi has been seen as one of the leading German cameralists2 that is to say, as a specialist of the mercantilist policy of the state. Reinterpretations of cameralism and cameral sciences have changed and keep changing the ways the main proponent of cameral sciences has been seen during the past forty years.3 We have come to realise that cameralists wrote extensively on political