Grotius and the skeptics

Journal of the History of Ideas

Volumn 66, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 577-601

  Mautner, Thomas ^a  

^a AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 31044456159     PISSN: 00225037     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jhi.2005.0057     Document Type: Review

References (99)

1. The three "books" are in fact the three parts of which the work consists. In the title of some English translations "right" or "rights" is incorrectly used instead of "law".
2. Jean Barbeyrac, "Préface du traducteur," in Samuel Pufendorf, Du droit de la nature et des gens, (Amsterdam, 1712 [1706]), cxvi.
3. The details and the considerable extent of his participation only became known recently, thanks to Bruno Lagarrigue, Un temple de la culture européenne (Nijmegen, 1993).
4. For a list of histories of morality in this tradition, see T. J. Hochstrasser, Natural Law Theories in the Early Enlightenment (Cambridge, 2000), 38. Other words to designate the subject matter were "ethics," "moral philosophy," "natural law," "natural jurisprudence," "practical philosophy," etc. The terminology was not fixed. For instance, Barbeyrac uses "morale" to designate ethics together with natural law and politics, but in another context he uses the same word as a contrasting term to natural law.
5. See the first chapter of Specimen controversiarum 1678, which in turn was included in Eris scandica ('1686) (Berlin, 2002).
6. Prolegomena, §5.
7. Fuit vir magnae auctoritatis, & eloquentia singulari praeditus. Historiae philosophiae succincta delineatio §19, 49. J. F. Buddeus (1667-1729).
8. 11703)].
9. Assen: van Gorcum, 1960; Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1979; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
10. 11581) (Cambridge, 1988). "Only to a minimal degree do we find ... in the works ... of Sanches the religious and ethical concerns . . . of other sceptical writers of the sixteenth century." E. Limbrick, "Introduction," Elementa Philosophiae Instrumentalis, Seu Institutionum Philosophiae Eclecticae Tomus Primus op.cit., 73. He does not figure in the present context.
11. "Popkin's revised scepticism," British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 12 (2004), 319-32.
12. Popkin, op. cit. (1979), 110; (2003), 99.
13. Richard Tuck, "Grotius, Carneades and Hobbes," Grotiana, n.s. 4 (1983).
14. Richard Tuck Idem., "The 'modern' theory of natural law," The Languages of Political Theory in Early-Modern Europe, ed. Anthony Pagden (Cambridge, 1987), 109.
15. Jerome Schneewind, Moral Philosophy from Montaigne to Kant, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1990), 1, 89.
16. Jerome Schneewind Idem, The Invention of Autonomy (Cambridge, 1998), 71.
17. Knud Haakonssen, "Divine/natural law theories in ethics," in Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, 2 vols., ed. D. Garber and M. Ayers (Cambridge, 1998), 1325.
18. Statements to the same effect also in his Natural Law and Moral Philosophy (Cambridge, 1996), 24f.
19. Idem, Review of The rights of war and peace (Oxford, 1999).
20. Mind, 111 (2002), 499.
21. Charles Larmore, "Scepticism," in Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, 2 vols., ed. D. Garber and M. Ayers (Cambridge 1998), 1186, n. 94.
22. Charles Larmore, Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy Ibid., 1163.
23. Benedict Kingsbury, "Grotius, Law and Moral Scepticism: Theory and practice in the thought of Hedley Bull," in Classical Theories of International Relations, ed. Ian Clarke and Iver B. Neumann, Basingstoke, 1996), 44:
24. Ross Harrison, Hobbes, Locke and Confusion's Masterpiece, (Cambridge, 2003), 41;
25. Leonard F. M. Besselink, "Cynicism, scepticism and stoicism," Grotiana, n.s. 22-23 (2001-2002), 188.
26. Hochstrasser, Natural Law Theories, 210.
27. It is by now traditional, according to Petter Korkman, "Barbeyrac on scepticism and Grotian modernity," Grotiana, n.s. 20-21 (1999-2000), 85.
28. Brian Tierney, The Idea of Natural Rights, (Atlanta, 1997), 320-24.
29. Brian Tierney, The Idea of Natural Rights Ibid., 321.
30. "Scripsi . . . libros sex in usum popularium, ut qui impiorum, Paganorum, Judaeorum, Mahumetistarum consuetudinem declinare non possunt, haberent quo aut se tuerentur, aut etiam alios convincerent." (Italics added.) Prolegomena to Stobaeus' anthology, reprinted in Gaisford's edition (Oxford, 1822), p. xxx. (I wrote six books for popular use, in order that those who are obliged to adjust to the usages of the godless, pagans, Jews or Moslems have something to protect them [in their faith] or even to convince others.)
31. P.C. Molhuysen et al. (eds.) Briefwisseling van Hugo Grotius, 17 vols. (The Hague, 1928-2001).
32. P. C. Molhuysen, "De bibliotheek van Hugo de Groot in 1618," Mededelingen der nederlandsche akademie van wetenschappen, afdeeling letterkunde. Nieuwe reeks, 6; no. 3 (Amsterdam, 1943);
33. Folke Dovring, Mededelingen der Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afdeeling Letterkunde. Nieuwe Reeks ibid. 12 (1949), 237-50;
34. E. M. Meijers, Mededelingen der Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afdeeling Letterkunde. Nieuwe Reeks ibid., 12, 251-79;
35. Folke Dovring, Mededelingen der Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afdeeling Letterkunde. Nieuwe Reeks ibid. 14 (1951), 331-40;
36. C. S. N. Rademaker, "Books and Grotius at Loevestein," Quaerendo, 2 (1972), 2-29;
37. Edwin Rabbie, "The history and reconstruction of Hugo Grotius's library," in Bibliothecae selectae da Cusano a Leopardi, ed. Eugenio Canone (Rome, 1993). With warm thanks to Dr. Ingrid Petersson and Dr. Gertrud Lindberg for checking in Lund materials inaccessible in Australia.
38. De jure belli ac pads libri tres, vol. 2, tr. EW.Kelsey et al. (New York, 1964, reprint of 1925 ed.).
39. Robert Shaver, "Grotius on scepticism and self-interest," Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, 78 (1996).
40. Robert Shaver, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie Ibid., 38.
41. Perez Zagorin, "Hobbes without Grotius," History of Political Thought, 21 (2000), 24. Haakonssen points to Bayle as Barbeyrac's target in "Divine/natural law theories" (see note 16) 1325.
42. Korkman, "Barbeyrac on scepticism and Grotian modernity," Grotiana n.s. 20-21 (1999-2000), 100.
43. Barbeyrac and Natural Law (Helsinki, 2001), 108. This may need further investigation. Gianluca Mori argues convincingly in his Bayle philosophe (Paris, 1999) that Bayle fluctuated in his skepticism but always took the axioms of logic and ethics to be indubitable (42f., 46). This could explain why Bayle is mainly used as a valuable source of information, is occasionally criticised on unrelated matters, but is not targeted in Barbeyrac's major attacks on modern and ancient skeptics in §1-5 and §25 of his "Préface" (see note 2). In §22 he is cited with approval.
44. See note 31.
45. Petter Korkman, "Jean Barbeyrac and natural law in the early 18th century" (diss., University of Helsinki, 1999), 23.
46. Petter Korkman, "Jean Barbeyrac and natural law in the early 18th century" Ibid., 28.
47. 11672), Frankfurt a.M. 1684 (revised and expanded).
48. See F. Palladini, La biblioteca di Samuele Pufendorf (Wiesbaden, 1999).
49. De jure naturae et gentium libri octo (1688), vol. 2, tr. C. H. Oldfather and W. A. Oldfather (New York, 1964; reprint of 1934 ed.).
50. De jure naturae et gentium 1, 3, 1. The question attracted much attention because of its supposed association with questions of freedom and immortality. Human suffering might be a punishment for sin, but what about animal suffering? Are animals free agents capable of sinning? And do animals possess the kind of mental faculty that qualifies us for immortality?
51. 71730; reprint Aalen, 1994), §40 of the prefatory discourse and 1,1, 32ff. He gives high praise to Bayle.
52. Horst Dreitzel, "Samuel Pufendorf," Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie: Die Philosophie des 17. Jahrhunderts. Band 4. Das heilige römische Reich deutscher Nation, Nordund Ostmitteleuropa (Basel, 2001), 797, 810.
53. Eris scandica (see note 5), 194 (Specimen controversiarum, c.5., ad finem).
54. See note 9.
55. W. K. C. Guthrie, The Sophists (Cambridge, 1971)
56. [= A History of Greek Philosophy, vol. 3, Part 1, 1969], 50. One source is Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, second last paragraph of Letter 88: Protagoras ait, de omni re in utramque partem disputari posse ex aequo, et de hac ipsa, an omnis res in utramque partem disputabilis sit. Protagoras says that on every subject matter it is possible to argue with equal strength both for and against (also on that very statement itself!).
57. Barbeyrac writes that the first was less persuasively argued: "Carneade . . . combattit [la justice] plus fortement qu'il ne l'avoit défendue." He refers to Lactantius, op. cit. (note 8).
58. The term gained currency, first in Italian, through a work with that title by Giovanni Boléro, published in Venice 1589, which was soon translated into other vernaculars and Latin. There was an upsurge of writings on the topic from then until the 1650s.
59. Cicero, De finibus 2, 18, 59;
60. cited after Montaigne Essais 2, 16.
61. The Essays of Michel de Montaigne, tr. M. A. Screech (London, 1991), 705.
62. Augustine, De civitate del 4, 4
63. "Remota itaque iustitia, quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia? quia et latrocinia quid sunt nisi parva regna? Remove justice, and what are kingdoms but gangs of criminals on a large scale? What are criminal gangs but petty kingdoms? (Augustine, The City of God, tr. H. Bettenson [Harmondsworth, 1972], 139).
64. Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus, (eds.), The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, vol. 2: My Country Right or Left 1940-1943 (New York, 1968), 319-25.
65. It follows that in Korkman's fine essay the statement "Grotius makes Carneades the spokesman for scepticism," op. cit. (see note 22), 78 needs qualification.
66. In her 1595 preface to Montaigne's Essais pp. 34-35.
67. quoted in Emily Butterworth, "'Ces caustiques babils': Marie de Gournay's response to slander," Intellectual News, 11-12 (Summer 2003).
68. See, e.g., Gisela Striker, "Über den Unterschied zwischen den Pyrrhoneern und den Akademikern," Phronesis, 21 (1981).
69. Emidio Spinelli, "Scettismi antichi a confronto," Paradigmi, 21 (2003).
70. In Plato's dialogues Gorgias and Republic, respectively.
71. Richard Tuck, Philosophy and Government 1572-1651 (Cambridge, 1993), 196. He uses this description to refer to Montaigne and Charron.
72. See note 13.
73. 21604; revised) (Paris, 1824, reprint Geneva, 1968).
74. The strong influence in Charron' eclectic work of the Stoic doctrine of natural law has been admirably demonstrated by Maryanne Cline Horowitz, e.g., in her "Natural Law as the Foundation for an Autonomous Ethic: Pierre Charron's De la Sagesse," Studies in the Renaissance, 21 (1974): "He sought to build a foundation for morality independent of religion" (p. 206).
75. De la Sagesse," Studies in the Renaissance Op. cit., xlviii.
76. De la sagesse, 3, 5 in vol. 2 of Charron, op. cit., 431.
77. and Petit traicté de la sagesse, in vol. 3 of Charron, op. cit., 289.
78. Suum cuique tribuere is one of the three classical precepts of justice.
79. De la sagesse, 3, 5 in vol. 2 of Charron, op. cit., 434. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, is the source for the distinction between two kinds of justice, and for the view that all virtue is mediocrity, i.e. a mean between two extremes, which are vices.
80. Pierre Charron, Petit traicté de la sagesse, in vol. 3 of Charron, op. cit., 281.
81. "It should be noted that "Essais" has the connotation of trial, test, experiment," Limbrick, Petit Traicté de la Sagesse op. cit. (see note 10), 80.
82. An overview of the objections that have led scholars to abandon Pierre Villey's well-known view that Montaigne's essays reveal an evolution over time in three stages (stoicism, scepticism, epicureanism) is given in chap. 1 of D. L. Schaefer, The Political Philosophy of Montaigne (Ithaca, N.Y., 1990).
83. This is the view of Arthur Armaingaud, "Etude sur Michel de Montaigne," in Oeuvres complètes, vol. 1 (Paris: Conard, 1924), 133, in a chapter with the heading "The alleged [pré tendu] scepticism of Montaigne."
84. Alan Levine, Sensual Philosophy (Lanham, 2001), 261, note 89.
85. Armaingaud (op. cit.) writes that Montaigne was not a genuine skeptic (p. 133) and that Montaigne believed in conscience, honesty, honor, virtue, duty and cultivated neighborly love etc. (p. 137).
86. Essais 3, 1. Screech, op. cit., 898.
87. B. Copenhaver, and Charles Schmitt, Renaissance Philosophy (Oxford, 1992), 258. They quote from essay 1, 31.
88. See, e.g., Essais 2, 16. Screech, op. cit., 709: "ignorance, injustice, inconstancy."
89. Essais, ed. Rat 2, 17 (Paris, 1948), 382. The morals and the speech of the peasants I find to be more in conformity with the principles of true philosophy than those of the philosophers.
90. Screech, Screech op. cit., 750.
91. 41758).
92. J. F. Buddeus, Historia juris naturalis (the expanded version, first published in Buddeus' Selecta quaedam juris naturae et gentium, Halle, 1704).
93. reprinted in Thomas Johnson's edition of Pufendorf s De officio hominis et civis, 4th ed. (Cambridge, 1758), 24f., note 56.
94. The brief remarks here should be supplemented with the account of Barbeyrac's opinions in Korkman's paper (see note 22).
95. 11661), 1680.
96. "un grand Philosophe de nos jours," Préface (see note 2), xix.
97. Un Grand Philosophe de Nos Jours Ibid., xxiii.
98. with reference to Montaigne's Essais 3, 13.
99. With warm thanks to James Grieve, Australian National University, for much help.