Abstract
The Dutch humanist Hugo Grotius’ status as an important forerunner of the Enlightenment is well recognized, bolstered by his famous etiamsi daremus-dictum in the Prolegomena of De iure belli ac pacis. Less well known is that Grotius was the first central Protestant thinker to redefine the concept of ius, so that it was understood as individual or subjective rights. His understanding of ius as a personal moral quality, which he subsequently delimits as the expletive justice or perfect right to one’s own (suum), was given a pivotal role in his system of natural law. These concepts of ius and suum, which Grotius differentiates from other rationally derived moral principles, inspired John Locke to champion the equivalent concepts of rights and property. The chapter also contains a section exploring Grotius’ method and a section exploring the relationship between rights and the supreme governing power (summa potestas).
This chapter is an English translation and adaption of “Hugo Grotius: Individuelle rettigheter som naturrettens kjerne,” in Pedersen , Jørgen (red.) (2013) Politisk filosofi fra Platon til Hanna Arendt. Oslo: Pax.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
On natural law and natural right in general, see inter alia Passarin d’Entrèves , Alessandro (1970) Natural Law: An Introduction to Legal Philosophy, 2nd rev. ed. London: Hutchinson University Library.
- 2.
Grotius, Hugo De iure belli ac pacis libri tres: in quibus ius naturae et gentium item iuris publici praecipua explicantur (IBP), ed. by B. J. Kanter-van Hettinga Tromp (1939), reprinted with additional notes by Robert Feenstra et al. Aalen: Scientia-Verlag. I, i, XIV, 1. Cp. I, ii, I, 5-6 (numbers corresponds to respectively book, chapter, section and paragraph). “[P]rotection of these rights is indeed one of the main tasks of civil government,” in van Nifterik , Gustaaf (2011) “Hugo Grotius, Privileges, Fundamental Laws and Rights”. Grotiana 32 (2011), p. 19.
- 3.
Grotius explains the limits of the duty of obedience in IBP I, iv.
- 4.
Haakonssen , Knud (1985) “Hugo Grotius and the History of Political Thought,” in Political Theory, p. 240.
- 5.
Smith , Tara (1995) Moral Rights and Political Freedom. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, “Studies in social and political philosophy”, p. 18.
- 6.
Straumann , Benjamin (2009), “Is Modern Liberty Ancient? Roman Remedies and Natural Rights In Hugo Grotius’s Early Works on Natural Law,” in Law and History Review.
- 7.
Thomasius , Christian (1950) “Vorrede,” in Schätzel , Walter (ed.) Hugo Grotius: Drei Bücher vom Recht des Krieges und des Friedens, trans. by Walter Schätzel . Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, p. 26. I have used the editio maior edition of De iure belli ac pacis libri tres: in quibus ius naturae et gentium item iuris publici praecipua explicantur, by B. J. A. De Kanter-van Hettinga Tromp , Leiden 1939. This edition was republished 1993 with additional notes by Robert Feenstra (Aalen: Scientia-Verlag). The 1939-edition is available digitized here: http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/groo001bjad01_01/. The English translation of De Iure Belli ac Pacis by Kelsey et al. (The Law of War and Peace, Oxford 1925) has been used, but sometimes corrected or changed by myself. There exists also an older English translation by Morrice et al. (The Rights of War and Peace, Indianapolis 2005), edited and with an introduction by Richard Tuck .
- 8.
de Vattel , Emer (1758) Le droit des gens, ou Principes de la loi naturelle, appliqués à la conduite et aux affaires des Nations et des Souverains, 2 vols. Londres. A reprint of an English translation came 2008: de Vattel , Emer The Law of Nations or, Principles of the Law of Nature, Applied to the Conduct and Affairs of Nations and Sovereigns, with Three Early Essays on the Origin and Nature of Natural Law and on Luxury, ed. and with an introduction by Bela Kapossy & Richard Whatmore , trans. Thomas Nugent . Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, “Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics”, 2008.
- 9.
Jean Bodin (1530–1596), French political philosopher who advocated hereditary and absolute royal power, and famous for having shaped the modern concept of sovereignty in Les Six livres de la République (first edition 1576). See Chapter “Jean Bodin: The Modern State Comes into Being” for Bodin’s political philosophy.
- 10.
Miller , Jon (2011) “Hugo Grotius,” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, p. 2.
- 11.
For a great bibliography, see: Ter Meulen , Jacob & Jurriaan Diermanse , Pieter Johan (1961) Bibliographie des écrits sur Hugo Grotius: imprimés au XVII e siècle. La Haye: M. Nijhoff.
- 12.
Grotius , Hugo (2006) Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, “Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics”.
- 13.
Latin-English edition by Robert Feenstra came 2009: Mare Liberum 1609-2009: original Latin text (facsimile of the first edition, 1609) and modern English translation, ed. and ann. by Robert Feenstra , with a general introduction by Jeroen Vervliet , trans. Robert Feenstra . Leiden: Brill.
- 14.
The statement “Etiamsi daremus … non esse Deum” (… although we would admit … that God does not exist) of Grotius is the most famous expression of the view that natural law does not have to be dependent on theology. Similar ideas were also formulated before Grotius by the scholastics. The earliest and clearest expression is found in Gregory of Rimini , see Suarez 1944, p. 190.
- 15.
Haakonssen , Knud (1996) Natural Law and Moral Philosophy: From Grotius to the Scottish Enlightenment. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, p. 29.
- 16.
Hofmann , Hasso (1995) “Hugo Grotius ,” in Stolleis , Michael (ed.) Staatsdenker in der frühen Neuzeit. München: Beck, p. 54.
- 17.
For the Roman law -influence on Grotius ’ legal thinking, see Benjamin Straumann works.
- 18.
On Gentili , see: Kingsbury , Benedict & Straumann , Benjamin (eds.) (2010) The Roman Foundations of the Law of Nations: Alberico Gentili and the Justice of Empire. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
- 19.
Straumann , Benjamin (2007) Hugo Grotius und die Antike: römisches Recht und römische Ethik im frühneuzeitlichen Naturrecht, 1. Aufl. ed. Baden-Baden: Nomos, “Studien zur Geschichte des Völkerrechts”. Of particular importance according to Straumann : Quintilian ’s Instituto Oratoria.
- 20.
Schnepf , Robert (1998) “Naturrecht und Geschichte bei Hugo Grotius. Ein methodologisches Problem rechtsphilosophischer Begründung,” in Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte, pp. 1–12.
- 21.
See e.g. Eikema Hommes , Hendrik van (1983) “Grotius on Natural and International Law,” in Netherlands International Law Review 30, pp. 67 et seq.
- 22.
Grunert , Frank (2000) Normbegründung und politische Legitimität: Zur Rechts- und Staatsphilosophie der deutschen Frühaufklärung. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, p. 70.
- 23.
See further on this, and with references §§ 70–80, Aure , Andreas Harald (2008) “Der säkularisierte und subjektivierte Naturrechtsbegriff bei Hugo Grotius,” in Forum Historiae Iuris.
- 24.
Eclecticism in philosophy has been going through several conceptual mutations since the Enlightenment (though the term originated in ancient times) and is therefore easily prone for anachronistic usage. From having had positive connotations, the word today carries rather negative. The positive meaning during the Enlightenment considered eclecticism as a third way between skepticism and dogmatism. For a Begriffsgeschichte: Albrecht , Michael (1994) Eklektik eine Begriffsgeschichte mit Hinweisen auf die Philosophie- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Quaestiones 5. Stuttgart/Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog.
- 25.
On Grotius ’ understanding of oikeiosis, see Brooke , Christopher (2008) “Grotius, Stoicism and ‘Oikeiosis’,” in Grotiana 29. With further references.
- 26.
The latter sense is explained in Aure 2008 §§ 70–80.
- 27.
Expletive: Old Greek, perfect or complete.
- 28.
Suum represents that which in John Locke ’s political theory is expressed with the word property, cf. Locke 1988, II, § 87, where “property” is described as “Life Liberty and Estate”.
- 29.
Grotius does not deduce his theory from a hypothetical state of nature consisting of individuals who hypothetically enter into contracts with each other and with appointed regents. There are thus essential differences between Grotius and Thomas Hobbes , see Zagorin 2000. Zagorin still goes too far in writing off Grotius as a conservative and unoriginal thinker.
- 30.
- 31.
- 32.
On Grotius and servitus, see van Nifterik , Gustaaf (2004) “Hugo Grotius on ‘slavery’,” in Winkel, Laurens & Blom, , Hans (eds) Grotius and the Stoa. Assen: Royal Van Gorcum.
- 33.
- 34.
Zuckert , Michael P. (1994) Natural Rights and the New Republicanism. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, p. 145.
- 35.
Cp. e.g. Grotius 1993: II, xx, XX, 1.
- 36.
Schneewind , J. B. (1998) The Invention of Autonomy: A History of Modern Moral Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 80.
- 37.
Reibstein , Ernst (1972) Volkssouveränität und Freiheitsrechte Texte und Studien zur politischen Theorie des 14.-18. Jahrhunderts, ed. by Clausdieter Schott . Freiburg [et al.]: Alber, “Orbis academicus Sonderband”, pp. 210 et seq. Link , Christoph (1983) Hugo Grotius als Staatsdenker. Tübingen: Mohr, “Recht und Staat in Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. 512”, p. 25.
- 38.
Keene , Edward (2002) Beyond the Anarchical Society: Grotius, Colonialism and Order in World Politics. Cambridge, UK/New York: Cambridge University Press, “LSE Monographs International Studies”, p. 93 and passim.
- 39.
Grotius discusses though, ibid. section 10, how the stronger power can gradually come to usurp government power of the weaker power.
- 40.
A major reason why it has been claimed to exist such a contradiction is probably that many commentators have believed that libertas civilis has connotations to individual liberty (civil liberty), believing that when the people have transferred libertas civilis they have transferred their individual liberty (as well).
- 41.
Remec , Peter Pavel (1960) The Position of the Individual in International Law According to Grotius and Vattel. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, pp. 118 et seq.
- 42.
Kant , Immanuel (1977) Zum ewigen Frieden: ein philosophischer Entwurf, ed. by Wilhelm Weischedel in Werke in zwölf Bänden. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, p. 210.
- 43.
Quoted in: Grunert , Frank (2003) “The Reception of Hugo Grotius’s ‘De iure belli ac pacis’ in the Early German Enlightenment,” in Schröder , Peter & Hochstrasser , Timothy (eds) Early Modern Natural Law Theories: Contexts and Strategies in the Early Enlightenment. Dordrecht/Boston/London, “Archives internationales d’histoire des idées/International Archives of the History of Ideas”.
- 44.
Welzel , Hans (1962) Naturrecht und materiale Gerechtigkeit. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, p. 129.
- 45.
Strauss , Leo (1953) Natural Right and History. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; Syse , Henrik (2007) Natural Law, Religion, and Rights: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Natural Law and Natural Rights, with special emphasis on the teachings of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke . South Bend, Ind.: St. Augustine’s Press.
- 46.
Smith ended his magnum opus The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) with the following statement about Grotius and his jurisprudence: “Grotius seems to have been the first who attempted to give the world anything like a system of those principles which ought to run through, and be the foundation of the laws of all nations: and his treatise of the laws of war and peace, with all its imperfections, is perhaps at this day the most complete work that has yet been given upon this subject.”
- 47.
Title of the edition 1728 and later editions: Naturens og folke-rettens kundskab (The science of the law of nature and nations). The book was translated into German 1748 and into Swedish in 1789. On Holberg , see Langslet , Lars Roar (2012) Den store ensomme: en biografi om Ludvig Holberg. Oslo: Press. On Naturens og folke-rettens kundskap, see: Vinje , Eiliv & Sejersted , Jørgen Magnus (2012) Ludvig Holbergs naturrett. Oslo: Gyldendal.
- 48.
Cp. Borschberg , Peter (2010) Hugo Grotius, the Portuguese, and Free Trade in the East Indies. Singapore: Singapore University Press.
Bibliography
Albrecht, M. (1994). Eklektik eine Begriffsgeschichte mit Hinweisen auf die Philosophie- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte. Quaestiones 5. Stuttgart/Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog.
Aure, A. H. (2008). Der säkularisierte und subjektivierte Naturrechtsbegriff bei Hugo Grotius. Forum Historiae Iuris, 41.
Borschberg, P. (2010). Hugo Grotius, the Portuguese, and free trade in the East Indies. Singapore: Singapore University Press.
Brooke, C. (2008). Grotius, Stoicism and ‘Oikeiosis’. Grotiana, 29, 25–49.
Buckle, S. (1991). Natural law and the theory of property. Oxford: Clarendon.
Grotius, H. (1993). De iure belli ac pacis libri tres: In quibus ius naturae et gentium item iuris publici praecipua explicantur, ed. by B. J. Kanter-Van Hettinga Tromp (1939), Reprinted with additional notes by Robert Feenstra et al. Aalen: Scientia-Verlag.
Grotius, H. (2006). Commentary on the law of prize and booty (Natural law and enlightenment classics). Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.
Grotius, H. (2009). Mare Liberum 1609-2009: Original latin text (Facsimile of the First Edition, 1609) and modern english translation, (ed. and ann. by R. Feenstra, with a general Introduction by J. Vervliet, Trans. by R. Feenstra). Leiden: Brill.
Grunert, F. (2000). Normbegründung und politische Legitimität: Zur Rechts- und Staatsphilosophie der deutschen Frühaufklärung. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag.
Grunert, F. (2003). The reception of Hugo Grotius’ ‘De Iure Belli Ac Pacis’ in the early German enlightenment. In P. Schröder & T. Hochstrasser (Eds.), Early modern natural law theories: Contexts and strategies in the early enlightenment (pp. 89–105). Dordrecht/Boston/London: Archives internationales d’histoire des idées/International Archives of the History of Ideas.
Haakonssen, K. (1985). Hugo Grotius and the history of political thought. Political Theory, 13, 26.
Haakonssen, K. (1996). Natural law and moral philosophy: From Grotius to the Scottish enlightenment. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hofmann, H. (1995). Hugo Grotius. In M. Stolleis (Ed.), Staatsdenker in der frühen Neuzeit (pp. 52–77). München: Beck.
Kant, I. (1977). Zum ewigen Frieden: Ein philosophischer Entwurf. In W. Weischedel (Ed.), Werke in zwölf Bänden. Frankfurt-am-Main: Suhrkamp.
Keene, E. (2002). Beyond the anarchical society: Grotius, colonialism and order in world politics (LSE monographs in international studies). Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kingsbury, B., & Straumann, B. (Eds.). (2010). The Roman foundations of the law of nations: Alberico Gentili and the justice of empire. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
Langslet, L. R. (2001). Den store Ensomme: En biografi om Ludvig Holberg. Oslo: Press.
Lindberg, B. (1976). Naturretten i Uppsala 1655–1720. Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksell.
Link, C. (1983). Hugo Grotius als Staatsdenker (Recht und Staat in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Vol. 512). Tübingen: Mohr.
Locke, J. (1988). Two treatises on government. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Miller, J. (2011). Hugo Grotius. In Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, 18.
Nellen, H. (2007). Hugo de Groot: Een leven in strijd om de vrede 1583–1645. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Balans.
Passarin d’Entrèves, A. (1970). Natural law: An introduction to legal philosophy (2nd ed. rev.). London: Hutchinson University Library.
Reibstein, E. (1972). Volkssouveränität und Freiheitsrechte: Texte und Studien zur politischen Theorie des 14.-18. Jahrhunderts. Freiburg [et al.]: Alber, Orbis Academicus Sonderband ed. by Clausdieter Schot.
Remec, P. P. (1960). The position of the individual in international law according to Grotius and Vattel. The Hague: M. Nijhoff.
Salter, J. (2001). Hugo Grotius: Property and consent. Political Theory, 29, 537–555.
Schneewind, J. B. (1998). The invention of autonomy: A history of modern moral philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schnepf, R. (1998). Naturrecht und Geschichte bei Hugo Grotius. Ein methodologisches Problem rechtsphilosophischer Begründung. Zeitschrift für neuere Rechtsgeschichte, 20, 1–14.
Smith, T. (1995). Moral rights and political freedom (Studies in social and political philosophy). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Straumann, B. (2007). Hugo Grotius und die Antike: Römisches Recht und Römische Ethik im frühneuzeitlichen Naturrecht (Studien zur Geschichte des Völkerrechts, 1. Aufl.). Baden-Baden: Nomos.
Straumann, B. (2009). Is modern liberty ancient? Roman remedies and natural rights in Hugo Grotius’s early works on natural law. Law and History Review, 27, 55–86.
Strauss, L. (1953). Natural right and history. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Syse, H. (2007). Natural law, religion, and rights: An exploration of the relationship between natural law and natural rights, with special emphasis on the teachings of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. South Bend: St. Augustine’s Press.
Ter Meulen, J., & Jurriaan Diermanse, P. J. (1961). Bibliographie des Écrits sur Hugo Grotius: Imprimés au XVII e Siècle. La Haye: M. Nijhoff.
Thomasius, C. (1950). Vorrede. In Hugo Grotius: Drei Bücher vom Recht des Krieges und des Friedens (Trans. by W. Schätzel, ed. by W. Schätzel, pp. 1–28). Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr.
Tuck, R. (1979). Natural rights theories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
van Eikema Hommes, H. (1983). Grotius on natural and international law. Netherlands International Law Review, 30, 61–71.
van Nifterik, G. (2004). Hugo Grotius on ‘Slavery’. In H. Blom & L. Winkel (Eds.), Grotius and the Stoa (pp. 233–43). Assen: Royal Van Gorcum.
van Nifterik, G. (2011). Hugo Grotius, privileges, fundamental laws and rights. Grotiana, 32, 1–19.
Vinje, E., & Sejersted, J. M. (2012). Ludvig Holbergs naturrett. Oslo: Gyldendal.
Welzel, H. (1962). Naturrecht und materiale Gerechtigkeit. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Zagorin, P. (2000). Hobbes without Grotius. History of Political Thought, 21, 16–40.
Zuckert, M. P. (1994). Natural rights and the new republicanism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Aure, A.H. (2015). Hugo Grotius – Individual Rights as the Core of Natural Law. In: Fløistad, G. (eds) Philosophy of Justice. Contemporary Philosophy: A New Survey, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9175-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9175-5_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9174-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9175-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)