Book contents
- Christianity and International Law
- Law and Christianity
- Christianity and International Law
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Christianity and International Law: An Introduction
- 2 The Byzantine Commonwealth and the Emerging Features of a Law of Nations in the First Millennium
- 3 Christianity and the Birth of Ambassadorial Deontology: Some Historical Notes
- 4 Formation and Refiguration of the Canon Law on Trade with Infidels (c.1200–c.1600)
- 5 God, Sovereignty, and the Morality of Intervention outside Europe
- 6 The Significance of Christian Charity to International Law
- 7 Hugo Grotius: On Freedom of the Seas and Human Nature
- 8 Ius gentium et naturae: The Human Conscience and Early Modern International Law
- 9 Legalizing Antisemitism? The Legacy of Savigny’s Roman(tic) Law
- 10 Missionary Knowledge and the Empirical Foundations of Modern International Legal Thought
- 11 Standards for a Righteous and Civilized World: Religion and America’s Emergence as a Global Power
- 12 International Protestantism and Its Changing Religious Freedoms
- 13 Beyond the Freedom of Worship: The Contested Meaning of Religious Freedom in International Human Rights Law and Politics, 1945–1967
- 14 Process Theology and a Pluralistic Foundation for Human Rights
- 15 Christianity and Human Rights Law: Orthodox Perspectives
- 16 Conquest, Sacred Sites, and “Religion” in a Time of Crisis
- 17 Constantine’s Legacy: Preserving Empire While Undermining International Law
- 18 Hopelessly Practicing Law: Asylum Seekers, Advocates, and Hostile Jurisdictions
- 19 The Hidden Theology of International Legal Positivism
- Select Bibliography
- Index
- References
7 - Hugo Grotius: On Freedom of the Seas and Human Nature
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 May 2021
By
Book contents
- Christianity and International Law
- Law and Christianity
- Christianity and International Law
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Christianity and International Law: An Introduction
- 2 The Byzantine Commonwealth and the Emerging Features of a Law of Nations in the First Millennium
- 3 Christianity and the Birth of Ambassadorial Deontology: Some Historical Notes
- 4 Formation and Refiguration of the Canon Law on Trade with Infidels (c.1200–c.1600)
- 5 God, Sovereignty, and the Morality of Intervention outside Europe
- 6 The Significance of Christian Charity to International Law
- 7 Hugo Grotius: On Freedom of the Seas and Human Nature
- 8 Ius gentium et naturae: The Human Conscience and Early Modern International Law
- 9 Legalizing Antisemitism? The Legacy of Savigny’s Roman(tic) Law
- 10 Missionary Knowledge and the Empirical Foundations of Modern International Legal Thought
- 11 Standards for a Righteous and Civilized World: Religion and America’s Emergence as a Global Power
- 12 International Protestantism and Its Changing Religious Freedoms
- 13 Beyond the Freedom of Worship: The Contested Meaning of Religious Freedom in International Human Rights Law and Politics, 1945–1967
- 14 Process Theology and a Pluralistic Foundation for Human Rights
- 15 Christianity and Human Rights Law: Orthodox Perspectives
- 16 Conquest, Sacred Sites, and “Religion” in a Time of Crisis
- 17 Constantine’s Legacy: Preserving Empire While Undermining International Law
- 18 Hopelessly Practicing Law: Asylum Seekers, Advocates, and Hostile Jurisdictions
- 19 The Hidden Theology of International Legal Positivism
- Select Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
This contribution examines an important triangulation in the thought of Hugo Grotius, or Hugo de Groot (1583–1645): his biblically based effort to redefine private property; a Remonstrant (or Arminian) theological framework for his definition of the free-willing and rational individual who could choose good or evil, as well as punish evil in others; and his work for the Dutch East India Company (VOC), which in many ways framed all that he wrote. Through these three items, Grotius developed an initial framework for international law, especially the ideology of “freedom of the seas,” or what is now called “freedom of navigation.” The question that arises through this analysis is whether the universal category of “freedom of the seas” as well as his idea of human nature are vitiated by the specific context in which they arose and the interests they served, or whether one can indeed develop universals, recognized by others, from specific contexts.
Keywords
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- Christianity and International LawAn Introduction, pp. 139 - 152Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
References
Recommended Reading
Buckle, Stephen. Natural Law and the Theory of Property: Grotius to Hume. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.Google Scholar
Grotius, Hugo. The Truth of the Christian Religion. Translated by John Clarke. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2012 [1627].Google Scholar
Ittersum, Martine Julia van. Profit and Principle: Hugo Grotius, Natural Rights Theories and the Rise of Dutch Power in the East Indies 1595–1615. Leiden: Brill, 2006.Google Scholar
Nellen, Henk, and Rabbie, Edwin. Hugo Grotius, Theologian: Essays in Honour of G.H.M. Posthumus Meyjes. Leiden: Brill, 1994.Google Scholar
Stumpf, Christoph A. The Grotian Theology of International Law: Hugo Grotius and the Moral Foundations of International Relations. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2006.Google Scholar
Wallerstein, Immanuel. The Modern World-System I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011 [1974].Google Scholar