Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty

This book argues that the natural law and natural rights theories developed by Grotius in Law of Prize and Booty is inherently linked to Dutch imperialism and colonialism, concluding that anarchical state of nature arguments to describe modern world politics are inadequate.

Gordon takes issue with some of the main natural law theorists, Pufendorf, Barbeyrac and Grotius, over the right of subjects to obey a tyrannical king or of slaves to obey their master. Gordon goes to the root of the problem by discussing the origin of the state in one of more supposed “contracts”…

This edition of Grotius’ defence of the right of all nations (especially the Dutch) to use the international sea lanes for trade, was published during World War One by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as part of their International Law series.

The Law of Nations expands on Grotius’ principles of international law and diplomacy and develops a theory of the rights and responsibilities of nations and sovereigns.

In this influential work of early international law, Vitoria discussed the limits of what colonial nations could justly do to Indigenous people in the name of conquest. In doing so, he helped to develop a just theory of war.

This book assesses the legal challenges and framework related to maritime law and piracy within the Ottoman Mediterranean in the 15th and 16th centuries, providing context for Grotius’ work, which was written in the same era.

Aquinas is one of the founders of theories of Medieval just war and natural law as the basis for human morality.