Grotius (Hugo de Groot) and Natural Law according to Grotius - "De Jure Belli ac Pacis" (Law of War and Peace)
Biography of Grotius (Hugo de Groot)
Grotius lived from 1583-1645, in the Netherlands.
Once Grotius (Hugo de Groot) followed Oldenbarneveld's journey to France. Also Grotius (Hugo de Groot) in 1619 was sentenced to life in prison, because Grotius (Hugo de Groot) became a remonstant.
However, in 1621 Grotius (Hugo de Groot) was able to escape from Loevestein to France.
In that prison Grotius had begun writing his famous book "De Jure Belli ac Pacis" (law of war and peace), which he later presented to the French king Louis XIII.
With the book "De Jure Belli ac Pacis", Grotius became a great thinker about state and law, and is considered to be the founding father, or pioneer, even creator of modern natural law.
Even though Grotius was a devoted religious believer, and deeply believed in the existence of God, the introduction of his book shows the arrogance and boldness of his words, as follows :
that God alone cannot make any changes to the truth, that two times two are four.Thus it can be shown a generally accepted field, apart from the divisions in the religious field.The law of nature is a rule of pure reason and is therefore so persistent that God Himself cannot change it. For how can it be that the Almighty can act contrary to what is reasonable ?It is in the power of thought that man finds the key to a moral code of life. In fact, if God does not exist, or does not care about humans, reason will be able to lead humans.Intellect is valid independent of supernatural powers.
Thus, Grotius' philosophy of state and law is an attempt to overcome all divisions in the religious field, based on the generally accepted human reason.
It is not even limited to Christians, but also applies to and binds all infidels and atheists.
Although Grotius is regarded as the creator of modern natural law teachings, his teachings are much inspired, and his natural laws are more directly related to: the natural laws of ancient times (ancient Greece-Aristotle), the Stoics (Zeno), and Cicero, than with Thomas Aquinas. and Francesco Suarez.
In establishing the modern foundations for thinking about state and law, for example, Grotius was deeply influenced by Aristotle's teachings that humans are social creatures, and therefore humans always have the desire to live in society.
However, according to Grotius, human beings have reason or reason, unlike animals, therefore self-interest and gain that excludes public interests cannot be used as a basis for thoughts about justice.
With this Grotius opposes the teachings of Carneades, the ancient Greek sophist.
But these teachings of the Carneades would later become the founding and guiding principles of Thomas Hobbes teachings.
In describing what is called natural law, Grotius actually has to do with other matters, namely the law of war and the law of peace.
Here Grotius is looking for evidence that between the countries which each have their own laws, there are elements that bind these countries, both in a state of peace and in a state of war. So Grotius then looked for the essence of the law.
Initially, the law applies to the country itself, but according to Grotius the law must also be respected by other countries.
Only in a state of war can countries act independently of each other.
So Grotius wanted to look for the international character of the law. Thus Grotius apart from being the founder of modern natural law, is also famous for his teachings regarding the law between nations. Grotius spoke of this law in terms of warfare.
Whereas in the past, it seems to Francesco Suarez, people talked about laws between countries, especially he saw them as laws that apply equally to every country.
Meanwhile, according to Grotius, law between countries is defined as the law that regulates relations between countries.
Then in this inter-state law, what Grotius discussed further was what norms prevailed between two or more countries, in any matter, whether in a state of peace or in a state of war.
Because if each country is sovereign, then what is the limitation, because it is impossible for each country to act on its own at will, regardless of the interests of other countries.
So of course there are restrictions so that in these countries peace can be created.
Grotius stated that what is binding between the countries, or the applicable law between them, is a certain norm, which is a nopma even though it is not written or stipulated in state law, and that norm also applies. So actually the norm is not made by the state or made by the king, but it is from the natural world.
Natural Law according to Grotius
Natural Law according to Grotius is: all provisions that are right and good according to the ratio, and cannot be wrong, after all, are just.
For example Grotius Natural Law :
- One must respect the property of others.
- People must respect others.
- People must compensate for the losses caused by their mistakes.
- People must keep promises.
- One must unlawfully return the property of another person to him.
These provisions exist everywhere, both in the modern state and in the primitive state. These provisions are already in effect and exist in the human heart.
In addition, there are other provisions in accordance with the ratio. And this is what is called natural law.
So the laws of nature are laws based on reason. In this way Grotius has laid a new foundation for the law of nature, namely reason. This is different from or different from the natural law of Johannes Althusius which states that the natural law comes from God.
What is Grotius' opinion about the state ? All adherents of natural law schools say that the country exists or occurs because of the implementation of an agreement.
So it is the opinion of Grotius. Even before that there had been such an opinion. For example, the opinion of Marsilius.
But even so there are differences, and the principal difference lies in the answer to the question: what is the cause or why did the people keep the covenant?
According to Marsilius, what caused these people to make a covenant was because those people received inspiration from God.
And God is called his causa remota. But if according to Grotius what causes it is: because a person is a social being, because of that there is always a desire to live in society, and what is important is because humans have a ratio.
Due to these factors humans then live in a society, to achieve their goals, namely: public order and security. And this task was assigned to a king in a covenant.
Now the question is why that person submits to the agreement ? The reason is that it is good and right according to the ratio. This is the result of Grotius' thought which is all-important and which is a major event in the history of thinking about the state and law.
Why is that ? Because Grotius has broken the connection between thoughts of the state and law and the theological views that have lasted centuries.
This mindset of Grotius was followed and continued by Thomas Hobbes, although under different circumstances and in different ways.
