The Idea of International Society: Erasmus, Vitoria, Gentili and Grotius

268 Pages·2017·22.08 MB·English

by  Ursula Vollerthun

This book offers the first comprehensive account and reappraisal of V
o The Idea of
the formative phase of what is often termed the ‘Grotian tradition’ in l
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international relations theory: the view that sovereign states are not free e
r
t International
to act at will, but are akin to members of a society, bound by its norms.
h
It examines the period from the later fifteenth to the mid-seventeenth u
n
Society
centuries, focusing on four thinkers – Erasmus, Vitoria, Gentili and
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Grotius himself – and is structured by the author’s concept of international R
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society. Erasmus’s views on international relations have been entirely
h
Erasmus, Vitoria, Gentili
neglected, but underlying his work is a consistent image of international a
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society. The theologian Francisco de Vitoria concerns himself with its d and Grotius
s
normative principles, the lawyer Alberico Gentili – unexpectedly, the o
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central figure in the narrative – with its extensive practical applications.
Ursula Vollerthun
Grotius, however, does not reaffirm the concept, but wavers at crucial
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points. This book suggests that the Grotian tradition is a misnomer. n h Edited by James L. Richardson
t
e
e

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Ursula Vollerthun (1937 2011) came relatively late to international d
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relations. With a background in political science and the history and a
a
t
philosophy of science, she pursued the present topic for her thesis in the
i o
o
Department of International Relations in the then Research School of f
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Pacific Studies at the Australian National University. a
l

S
James L. Richardson was Professor of Political Science (1975 85) and later o
of International Relations (1986 98), at the Australian National University. c
i
He is the author of Germany and the Atlantic Alliance (1966), Crisis e
t
Diplomacy (1994) and Contending Liberalisms in World Politics (2001). y
After Ursula Vollerthun’s death, he devoted himself to this work.
Cover image: Seventeenth-century map of
Europe by Joan Blaeu. DEA / G. Dagli Orti /
De Agostini / Getty Images.
ii
i
The Idea of International Society

This book offers the first comprehensive account and reappraisal of
the formative phase of what is often termed the ‘Grotian tradition’ in
international relations theory: the view that sovereign states are not free
to act at will, but are akin to members of a society, bound by its norms.
It examines the period from the later fifteenth to the mid- seventeenth
centuries, focussing on four thinkers – Erasmus, Vitoria, Gentili and
Grotius himself – and is structured by the author’s concept of inter-
national society. Erasmus’s views on international relations have been
entirely neglected, but underlying his work is a consistent image of
international society. The theologian Francisco de Vitoria concerns
himself with its normative principles, the lawyer Alberico Gentili –
unexpectedly, the central figure in the narrative – with its extensive
practical applications. Grotius, however, does not reaffirm the concept,
but wavers at crucial points. This book suggests that the Grotian trad-
ition is a misnomer.
Ursula Vollerthun (1937–2 011) came relatively late to international
relations. With a background in political science and the history and
philosophy of science, she pursued the present topic for her thesis in the
Department of International Relations in the then Research School of
Pacific Studies at the Australian National University.
James L. Richardson was Professor of Political Science (1975– 85) and
later of International Relations (1986–9 8) at the Australian National
University. He is the author of Germany and the Atlantic Alliance (1966),
Crisis Diplomacy (1994) and Contending Liberalisms in World Politics
(2001). After Ursula Vollerthun’s death, he devoted himself to this work.
ii
iii
The Idea of International

Society
Erasmus, Vitoria, Gentili and Grotius
Ursula Vollerthun
Edited by James L. Richardson
iv
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www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108417143
DOI: 10.1017/9781108264945
© James L. Richardson 2017
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and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2017
Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St Ives plc
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v
Contents

Preface page vii
Acknowledgements ix
Prologue: A Word about Words 1
Introduction 9
1 Three Ways of Thinking about International Relations 15
2 Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam 29
3 Francisco de Vitoria 70
4 Alberico Gentili 106
5 Hugo Grotius 145
Conclusion 204
Bibliography 233
Index 247
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vii
Preface

This work is based on the author’s doctoral thesis, written in the
Department of International Relations at the Australian National
University, and completed in 1992. At that time it did not find a pub-
lisher: there was only limited interest in the history of international
thought, and it seemed unlikely to attract a sufficient readership. Since
then the interest in the history of ideas in international relations has
increased immeasurably, but the present topic remains unexplored.
The thesis was highly regarded in the Department for its originality and
scholarship – the latter enhanced by the author’s command of the rele-
vant languages, Latin and Spanish as well as French and German – and
after her death in 2011, a number of colleagues and friends encouraged
me to edit it for publication.
The original intention was to remain as close as possible to the
author’s text, subject to reducing its length and other changes of presen-
tation necessary for publication, limiting editorial intervention to notes
drawing attention to more recent literature and an Introduction locating
the work in this context. However, the publisher’s readers persuaded
me that this was not sufficient; the subject had moved on and there
were new perspectives that a work published today would be expected
to take into account, and thus a much more thoroughgoing revision was
necessary.
This makes for a more complex relationship between the contribu-
tions of the author and the editor. The overall argument and the inter-
pretation of the four thinkers remain entirely those of the author, as do
the formulation and style of the interpretations, and thus the main body
of the text of these four chapters, as well as Chapter 1, are essentially in
the author’s words. The editor has provided a more elaborate frame. The
Introduction and Conclusion, while incorporating certain passages from
the author, are essentially oriented to the present state of the literature.
And each of the chapters on the four thinkers is placed in a new con-
text, prompting some further comments in the course of the chapters.
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viii Preface
I remain persuaded by the author’s interpretations, but I have very infre-
quently qualified a specific point which seemed to me to go beyond what
the text in question could support: rather more often I have reinforced
the argument by including a further comment or reference.
James L. Richardson
Hamburg, June 2017