governance · 1625 – 1646
On the Law of War and Peace
Hugo Grotius insists that even if there were no shared law between nations, the law of war and peace would still hold — war is not a natural necessity but a choice, and a choice is judged. The move is the invention of the secular moral law of nations, which is precisely the step needed when the actors holding power are states and no common court exists above them.
“Even if we should concede that there is no common law binding nations together, still there would be the law of nature and of nations. (paraphrase of De jure belli ac pacis, Prolegomena and I.ii)”
Advances
- The law of nations separated from any single confession or polity
- Lawfulness as a claim on sovereigns, not only between them
- The rules of war separated from the theology of just war
Landmarks
1609 CE
Mare Liberum
Argues for the freedom of the Dutch East India Company at sea; written in prison.
1625 CE
De jure belli ac pacis
Published while Grotius was escaping imprisonment under sentence of death.
Who was arguing
Alignment stack at 1646 CE (0 of 20 techniques)
Techniques introduced in this era: