The Study On Hugo Grotius’s Thought Of Natural Law

Hugo Grotius ’ thought of natural law is a product of a particular era. During the endof16th century to the Times New Roman beginning of17th century, the Christiantheology was on the wane, the power of reason was on the rise. Political and religiousconflict broke out between the monarchy and the religious denominations around thenational interests and religious belief. At that time Grotius’ home country Holland wasrising rapidly, wanted to get rid of the Spanish and there was constant frictions betweenHolland, Spain and Portugal on the overseas trade. Grotius was born in a Calvin noblefamily, and received humanist education, and thus affected by Christianity andhumanism. These are the historical background of the formation of Grotius Natural LawTheory.In Grotius Natural Law Theory, God is the logical starting point, God created allthings and gave them different attributes. In his opinion, natural law is the objectiveexistence, the priori and experience are two ways to prove; natural law theory is derivedfrom human nature, which in other words is reason. Reason is a gift from God, so faithand reason are compatible. The law is divided into two categories, natural law andvoluntary law, there are differences between divine law and will law in the voluntarylaw. About the relation between the natural law and voluntary law, Grotius believed thatdivine law contains natural law, and natural law is the foundation and criterion of the willlaw. Grotius also described the natural rights such as life, liberty, property and so on, andfocused on the evolution of mankind from total property to private property. He tried tocoordinate the contradiction between the modern rational new insights、new methods andtraditional religious beliefs.Grotius’ thought about natural law principles was important for him to buildGrotius’ thought about natural law principles was important for him to build systematicinternational law. He derived his theory of marine freedom and just war from the humantotal property rights and human’s desire for justice, which were emphasized by thenatural law. His efforts was recognized in the field of international law and he has beenwidely called " the father of modern international law."Grotius’ thought about natural law had the characteristic of duality, with individualand natural rights theory, divinity and rational intertwined, rationalist methodology, aswell as conflicts between the universal rules and national feelings, it is a unique product of the transition from medieval towards modern. Although Grotius’ thought of naturallaw still has very big limitation today, it created combination between humanity, reasonand natural law. For the first time in modern times proposed the idea of natural rights,played a pioneering role in the the modern transformation of natural law. At the sametime, it produced a significant practical impact in the areas of international sea law andinternational war law.