House is in a State

"Christian Wolff's Oeconomica methodo scientifica pertractata is the last work the rationalist philosopher lived to write ... Dedicated to the social infrastructure of the family this work tends to be overlooked in reception - rightly so, one would argue, as it is concerned with an overtly mundane subject matter: the inner workings of the household ... This thesis examines the Oeconomica within the context of Wolff's philosophical system and looks in particular at its declared role as the prodromus Politicae: as the forerunner and building block to the political philosophy he never lived to write. The reciprocal, complementary relationship between family and state with the philosopher's theory of socio-political living is the main concern in question ... Recent trends in Wolffian scholarship brand the philosopher the father of the modern welfare state; it is the primary intent of this thesis to examine this claim."--Abstract, leaf 5.