LTJeronimas Stroinovskis (1751-1815 ) buvo vienas pagrindinių mokslinio ir kultūrinio XVIII a. pabaigos - XIX a. pradžios Lietuvos gyvenimo lyderių, viena tų asmenybių, kurių dėka sklido sergančiai valstybei reikalingos Vakarų pasaulio intelektualinės naujovės, pati Apšvietos epochos dvasia, įgydama nepakartojamą, krašto poreikius atitinkantį pavidalą. Skelbiamas Stroinovskio, Universiteto rektoriaus, „Prigimtinės teisės mokslas“ (1785) - neapeinamas kūrinys, bandysiantiems prisiliesti prie minėtos epochos dvasinės šerdies. Jis ne tik inicijavo politinės ekonomijos, tuomet pasaulyje dar tik gimstančio mokslo, dėstymą Lietuvoje. Fiziokratizmo doktrina, kurią ši net šešių leidimų sulaukusi knyga dešimtmečius skleidė ne vien Vilniaus universitete, bet ir visose vidurinio bei aukštesniojo lygio Lietuvos mokyklose, apėmė prigimtinę, politinę teisę, politinę ekonomiją ir tarptautinę teisę. Gindama individo nuosavybės, asmeninės laisvės, lygybės, konstitucinės valstybės, jos integralumo ir neliečiamybės idealus, nubrėždama visuomenės ir valdžios abipuses pareigas ir teises, aukštindama ūkininkystę bei visuotinį švietimą, ji tiesiogiai formavo visos šalies šviesuomenės savimonę. Tai šioji sukūrė Gegužės 3-osios Konstituciją, traukė į Kosciuškos legionus bei prasiveržė dvejuose XIX a. sukilimuose. Daugiau kaip po dviejų šimtmečių sugrįžtantis fiziokratizmo vadovėlis suteikia gerą progą patirti, kiek toli šiandien nutolta nuo, tiesa, mūsų valstybei liūdnai pasibaigusio, vis dėlto optimistinio amžiaus - Apšvietos – idealų.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Teisė; Nuosavybė; Žmogaus tesės; Pareigos; Moralė; Laisvė; Law; Property; Human rights; Duties; Morality; Freedom.
ENHere is presented one of the most famous 18th century sources of science and history of philosophy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - the Lithuanian translation of the book by Hieronim Stroynowski (1752-1815), who was a lawyer, economist, professor and Rector of Vilnius University and the bishop of Vilnius. The book "The Science of Natural Law" was first published in Vilnius in 1785; since then it was republished 5 times (the book includes a facsimile of the 1804 edition). In 1809 this book was translated into Russian in Saint Petersburg. For several decades this book was used as an educational material in Vilnius University as well as in secondary and higher education schools of Lithuania. With such status, this book reflected and shaped the scientific worldview of the elite, thus it is exclusively significant not only to the historians of science, but also to the researchers of culture and those working in the field of history of mentalities. This book is one of the most significant monuments of the physiocratic doctrine in Lithuania and Poland. It encompasses a set of problems related to natural law, economy, home and foreign politics etc., therefore it is regarded as one of the most coherent and profound works of this theory on a Western European scale. The book coherently presents the deistic doctrine of natural law and the conception of the state origin, sovereignty as well as mutual civil rights and duties based on the above-mentioned doctrine.The book presents physiocratic ideas according to which land and its resources are considered to be the only source of national revenue and wealth. Farming, which fosters annual reproduction of goods, is the main factor of state power and social welfare. At all times and places, everybody should be allowed for completely free and unfettered trade of goods. Customs, taxes and audit of goods must be forbidden. The wealth of a nation is comprised not of hard cash or gold resources, but of the amount of available raw and produced materials; the state politics which does not match such vision is erroneous. This book supports the ideals of individual property, personal freedom, labour value, separation of powers, constitutional state and its integrity and immunity. The importance of universal education is propagated. The book contains original speculations - it digresses from classical physiocratic thought (of Francois Quesnay) by proposing a republican rather than monarchic model of state. In the appendix of the above-mentioned book, the translator PhD Dalius Viliūnas provides Hieronim Stroynowski's biography and discusses the genesis and framework of philosophical thought of physiocratism in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Thanks to Stroynowski and his book "The Science of Natural Law", Lithuania and its capital Vilnius was the last longest-standing fortress of physiocratism in Europe. [text from author]