Frederick II's writings have conventionally been viewed either as political tools or as means of public self-fashioning – part of his campaign to raise the status of Prussia from middling principality to great power. This article, by contrast, argues that Frederick's works must also be taken seriously on their own terms, and interpreted against the background of Enlightenment philosophy. Frederick's notions of kingship and state service were not governed mostly by a principle of pure morality or ‘humanitarianism’, as argued influentially by Friedrich Meinecke. On the contrary, the king's views were part and parcel of an eighteenth-century vision of modern kingship in commercial society, based on the benign pursuit of self-love and luxury. A close analysis of Frederick's writings demonstrates that authorial labour was integral to his political agency, publicly placing constraints on what could be perceived as legitimate conduct, rather than mere intellectual window-dressing or an Enlightened pastime in irresolvable tension with his politics.

传统上，腓特烈二世的著作被视为政治工具或公众自我塑造的手段，这是他将普鲁士地位从中等公国提升为大国的运动的一部分。相比之下，本文认为，弗雷德里克的作品也必须以自己的方式认真对待，并在启蒙哲学的背景下进行解释。弗雷德里希·梅尼克（Friedrich Meinecke）颇有影响力地论证说，弗雷德里克（Frederick）的王权和国家服务理念主要不受纯粹道德或“人道主义”原则的支配。相反，国王的观点是对十八世纪对商业社会中现代王权的远见的组成部分，该远景基于对自爱和奢侈的良性追求。弗雷德里克（Frederick）的仔细分析