Details

Subject(s)

• Grotius, Hugo 1583-1645 [Browse]
• Natural law—History [Browse]
• Roman law—Influence [Browse]

Translator

• Cooper, Belinda [Browse]

Series

Ideas in context ; 108. [More in this series]

Summary note

• "Roman Law in the State of Nature offers a new interpretation of the foundations of Hugo Grotius' natural law theory. Surveying the significance of texts from classical antiquity, Benjamin Straumann argues that certain classical texts, namely Roman law and a specifically Ciceronian brand of Stoicism, were particularly influential for Grotius in the construction of his theory of natural law. The book asserts that Grotius, a humanist steeped in Roman law, had many reasons to employ Roman tradition and explains how Cicero's ethics and Roman law - secular and offering a doctrine of the freedom of the high seas - were ideally suited to provide the rules for Grotius' state of nature. This fascinating new study offers historians, classicists and political theorists a fresh account of the historical background of the development of natural rights, natural law and of international legal norms as they emerged in seventeenth-century early modern Europe"-- Provided by publisher.
• "Roman Law in the State of Nature offers a new interpretation of the foundations of Hugo Grotius' natural law theory. Surveying the significance of texts from classical antiquity, Benjamin Straumann argues that certain classical texts, namely Roman law and a specifically Ciceronian brand of Stoicism, were particularly influential for Grotius in the construction of his theory of natural law. The book asserts that Grotius, a humanist steeped in Roman law, had many reasons to employ this Roman tradition and explains how Cicero's ethics and Roman law - secular and offering a doctrine of the freedom of the high seas - were ideally suited to provide the rules for Grotius' state of nature. This fascinating new study offers historians, classicists and political theorists a fresh account of the historical background of the development of natural rights, natural law and of international legal norms as they emerged in 17th-century early modern Europe"-- Provided by publisher.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-250) and index.

Contents

Machine generated contents note: Introduction; 1. Natural law in historical context; 2. A novel doctrine of the sources of law: nature and the classics; 3. Proving natural law: the influence of classical rhetoric on Grotius' method; 4. Social instinct or self-preservation?; 5. Justice for the state of nature: from Aristotle to the Corpus Iuris; 6. Grotius' concept of the state of nature; 7. Natural rights: Roman remedies in the state of nature; 8. Natural rights and just wars; 9. Enforcing natural law: the right to punish; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.

ISBN

• 9781107092907 (hardback)
• 1107092906 (hardback)

LCCN

2014032228

OCLC

886881545

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