Table Of ContentHugo Grotius in International Thought
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Hugo Grotius in International Thought
by Renée Jeffery
Hugo Grotius in
International Thought
Renée Jeffery
HUGOGROTIUSININTERNATIONALTHOUGHT
© Renée Jeffery,2006.
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2006 by
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ISBN-13:978–1–4039–7529–4
ISBN-10:1–4039–7529–9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jeffery,Renée.
Hugo Grotius in international thought / Renée Jeffery.
p.cm.—(Palgrave Macmillan history of international thought series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–7529–9
1.International relations.2.Grotius,Hugo,1583–1645.
3.Political scientists—Netherlands—Biography.4.International law.
5.Natural law.I.Title.II.Palgrave Macmillan series on the history of
international thought.
JZ1305.J43 2006
341.092—dc22 2006041593
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.,Chennai,India.
First edition:September 2006
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
Contents
Acknowledgments vi
List of Abbreviations viii
Chapter 1 The Grotius Story 1
Chapter 2 Hugo Grotius on the Rights
of War and Peace 27
Chapter 3 Grotian Morality in Europe
and Beyond 51
Chapter 4 The Grotian Tradition in
International Thought 85
Chapter 5 Hugo Grotius and Twentieth-Century
International Relations 113
Conclusion 139
Notes 153
Select Bibliography 189
Index 207
Acknowledgments
This work began its life as a PhD thesis submitted at the University of
St Andrews in 2004. During my time as a PhD student and the
subsequent months during which I attempted, I hope successfully, to
make the manuscript look less like a thesis and more like a book, I benefited
from assistance and support from a range of sources. I am particularly grate-
ful to Universities UK for the provision of an Overseas Research Scholarship
and the University of St Andrews for their generous support in the form of a
St Andrews Research Scholarship. Without such financial backing, in partic-
ular that provided by the University of St Andrews, it would not have been
possible for me to enjoy the invaluable experience of writing my PhD in the
United Kingdom.
Marc Williams must be credited with first inspiring my interest in
international relations as an undergraduate at the University of New South
Wales in Sydney. As my honours dissertation supervisor, Marc introduced me
not only to the world of international relations theory but guided my first
piece of research with great dedication. I was also fortunate enough to enrol
in Michael Wesley’s notoriously difficult “Theories and Methods of
International Relations” course in my final year at UNSW, a course that has
continued to stand me in good stead. It was on Michael’s recommendation
that I first applied to, and later accepted, a place to do my PhD at the
University of St Andrews as he had done some years earlier. As my PhD
supervisor at St Andrews, Nick Rengger dealt both with me and the trials and
tribulations my thesis brought with characteristic grace, humor and under-
standing. In particular, Nick must be credited with introducing me to the
world of ideas and for that I will always be grateful.
This work has also benefited from discussions with Kirsten Ainley, William
Bain, Charles Beitz, Chris Brown, Tim Dunne, Mark Imber, Edward Keene,
Tony Lang, Andrew Linklater and Peter Wilson. In particular, Andrew
Acknowledgments ● vii
Linklater was the best examiner any PhD student could hope for. Not only did
he provide a rigorous and sustained critique of the thesis but offered invaluable
advice about the reworking of the manuscript for publication. I am also grate-
ful for the support I have received from my new colleagues at La Trobe
University, in particular, Judith Brett, Anthony Jarvis, Robert Manne, and Tom
Weber. However, the person that deserves the greatest thanks from me is Ian
Hall. Not only was Ian a great source of advice, constructive criticism, and
friendship during my time at StAndrews but a great source of support during
the arduous process of revising the work. Finally, to my parents, David and
Annemarie, who have, for as long as I can remember, sought to foster, encour-
age and support my interest in all things academic. In this I am very much a
product of my upbringing and for that I will always be grateful.
List of Abbreviations
Works by Hugo Grotius
DJB De Jure Belli ac Pacis Libri Tres(The Rights of War and Peace in Three
Books)
DJP De Jure Praedae Commentarius (Commentary on the Law of Prize and
Booty)
DA De Antiquitate Reipublicae Batavicae (The Antiquity of the Batavian
Republic)
RE De Republica Emendanda(An Emendation of the Republic)
CiT Commentarius in Theses XI(Commentary on Eleven Theses)
Works by Other Authors
EJU Elementorum Jurisprudentiae Universalis Libri Duo (Elements of
Universal Jurisprudence in Two Books) by Samuel Pufendorf
DJN De Jure Naturae et Gentium Libri Octo(The Law of Nature and Nations
in Eight Books) by Samuel Pufendorf
OHC De Officio Hominis et Civis juxta Legem naturalem (On the Duty of
Man and Citizen) by Samuel Pufendorf
JGM Jus Gentium Methodo Scientifica Pertractatum (The Law of Nations
Treated According to a Scientific Method) by Christian von Wolff
LDG Le Droit des Gens, ou Principes de la Loi Naturelle appliqués à la Conduit
et aux Affaires des Nations et des Souverains (The Law of Nations or the
Principles of the Law of Nature Applied to the Conduct and to the Affairs
of Nations and of Sovereigns) by Emerich de Vattel
TGS Transactions of the Grotius Society
CHAPTER 1
The Grotius Story
Not only is there no consensus over the nature of the man, his work, and
how it is to be used, these divisions have often obscured the fact that there
is no agreement over what it actually means to be “Grotian.” Self-
confessed members see themselves, and their tradition, in markedly distinct
ways whilst claiming their often contradictory values to be quintessentially
“Grotian.” These contradictions were perhaps a consequence of the
Grotian predilection for inconclusiveness.1
In contemporary international thought Hugo Grotius stands alongside
Thomas Hobbes and Immanuel Kant in something of a “holy trinity” of
classical theorists. His 1625 work De Jure Belli ac Pacis (The Rights of War
and Peace) is rightly counted alongside Hobbes’ Leviathan and Kant’s
Perpetual Peace as one of the most important “classics” of international
thought.2The exemplar of the so-called “rationalist” tradition of international
theory, Grotius is often viewed as mediating the contending claims of the
“realist” and “revolutionist” traditions represented by Hobbes and Kant
respectively.3Unlike his esteemed counterparts however, the historical figure
of Grotius remains something of an unknown quantity in much contemporary
scholarship. Undoubtedly a writer more cited than read, Grotius has become
a thinker perhaps more mythologized than understood in all his color and
complexity.4 As a result, his contribution to the history of ideas in interna-
tional thought is more often viewed in terms of his subsequent, and often
anachronistic, placement within one or more retrospectively constructed
intellectual traditions, than in terms of his own writings.
In large part, blame for the reluctance with which contemporary scholars
have given serious consideration to Grotius’ life and works can be laid
