Hugo Grotius & the 9994 Grotius Asteroid - Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Metro2
N 51° 55.363 E 004° 28.728
31U E 601692 N 5753475
Hugo Grotius was a jurist, philosopher, theologian, Christian apologist, playwright, historiographer, poet, statesman and diplomat.
Waymark Code: WMPX6D
Location: Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Date Posted: 11/02/2015
Views: 21
This sculpture is located near Rotterdam's City Hall. The brass life-sized work depicts Grotius sitting wearing a ruffled-collar and blouse with a cape. His arms are crossed over a book on his lap. This website (visit link) indicates that the 1970 piece is by sculptor Auke Hettema The work is set on a stone or concrete plinth about 4 feet tall with his name and dates of birth and death.
Wikipedia (
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"Hugo Grotius (... 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot, Hugo Grocio or Hugo de Groot, was a jurist in the Dutch Republic. With Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law. He was also a philosopher, theologian, Christian apologist, playwright, historiographer, poet, statesman and diplomat.
In 1609, Grotius wrote one of the most important international legal doctrines regarding the seas and oceans — Mare Liberum, a Latin title that translates to “the freedom of the seas”. It is said to be 'the first, and classic, exposition of the doctrine of the freedom of the seas' which has been the essence and backbone of the modern law of the sea. It is generally assumed that Grotius first propounded the principle of freedom of the seas, although all countries in the Indian Ocean and other Asian seas accepted the right of unobstructed navigation long before Grotius wrote his De Jure Praedae (On the Law of Spoils) in the year of 1604. Grotius's notion of the freedom of the seas would persist until the mid-twentieth century, and it continues to be applied even to this day for much of the high seas, though the application of the concept and the scope of its reach is changing.
Grotius's influence on international law is paramount, and is acknowledged by, for instance, the American Society of International Law, which since 1999 holds an annual series of Grotius Lectures. International legal scholars like Richard Falk and Michael Scharf talk of the concept of “Grotian Moment”, a term (coined by Richard A. Falk in 1985) that denotes a paradigm-shifting development in which new rules and doctrines of customary international law emerge with unusual rapidity and acceptance. The publication of De jure belli ac pacis (On the Laws of War and Peace) by Hugo Grotius in 1625 had marked the emergence of international law as an 'autonomous legal science'. Grotius' truly distinctive contribution to jurisprudence and philosophy of law (international law or law of nations in particular) was that he 'secularized' natural law. Grotius had divorced natural law from theology and religion by grounding it solely in the social nature and natural reason of man. When Grotius, considered by many to be the founder of modern natural law theory (or secular natural law), said that natural law would retain its validity 'even if God did not exist' (etiamsi daremus non esse Deum), he was making a clear break with the classical tradition of natural law. Adam Smith, in lectures delivered in 1762 on the subject of moral philosophy and the law of nations, said that: “Jurisprudence is that science which inquires into the general principles which ought to be the foundation of laws of all nations. Grotius seems to have been the first who attempted to give the world anything like a regular system of natural jurisprudence, and his treatise, 'On the Laws of War and Peace, ' with all its imperfections, is perhaps at this day the most complete work on this subject.”
The Grotian conception of international society became the most distinctive characteristic of the internationalist (or rationalist) tradition in international relations. This is why it is also very often called the 'Grotian tradition'. According to it international politics is taking place within international society in which states are bound not only by rules of prudence or expediency but also of morality and law. It could be argued though that Hugo Grotius was not the first one to formulate the international society doctrine. But Grotius was the first one to expressely and clearly define the idea of one society of states, governed not by force or warfare but by actual laws and mutual agreement to enforce those laws. As Hedley Bull (Hugo Grotius and International Relations, 1992) declared: “The idea of international society which Grotius propounded was given concrete expression in the Peace of Westphalia, and Grotius can may be considered the intellectual father of this first general peace settlement of modern times.”
Additionally, his contributions to Arminian theology provided the seeds for later Arminian-based movements, such as Methodism and Pentecostalism and he is acknowledged as a significant figure in the Arminianism-Calvinism debate. Because of his theological underpinning of free trade, he is also considered an 'economic theologist'"
As for the asteroid, Wikipedia (
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"9994 Grotius is a main belt asteroid. It orbits the Sun once every 4.15 years.
Discovered on September 24, 1960 by C. J. van Houten and I. van Houten-Groeneveld on photographic plates made by T. Gehrels, it was given the provisional designation 4028 P-L. It was later renamed 9994 Grotius, to honour Hugo Grotius."