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9 - Vattel’s Theory of the Social Contract

from Part II - Concepts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2021

By
Gabriella Silvestrini
Edited by
Peter Schröder
Peter Schröder
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

At first glance, it seems that the theory of the social contract plays a highly enigmatic role in Vattel’s treatise The Law of Nations. The ‘very act of association’ is undoubtedly a pivotal concept in the Swiss author’s work, for it corresponds to the foundation of the nations, or states, which are the central protagonists of the drama. However, Vattel does not dedicate a chapter or even a paragraph to the theory of the contract, nor does he lay claim to any originality on the subject. This reticence is surprising given the space devoted to it by other authors of the contractarian tradition, such as Grotius, Hobbes, Locke, Pufendorf and Burlamaqui.

Type
Chapter
Information
Concepts and Contexts of Vattel's Political and Legal Thought , pp. 179 - 200
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Primary Sources

Vattel, E., Emer de Vattel à Jean Henri Samuel Formey. Correspondances autour du Droit des gens, ed. Bandelier, A. (Paris, 2012).Google Scholar
Vattel, E., Le Loisir Philosophique, ou Pièces diverses de philosophie, de morale et d’amusement (Dresde, 1747).Google Scholar
Vattel, E., The Law of Nations, ed. Kapossy, B. and Whatmore, R. (Indianapolis, 2008).Google Scholar
Vattel, E., Questions de droit naturel, et observations sur le Traité du Droit de la Nature de M. le Baron de Wolf (Berne, 1762).Google Scholar

Secondary Sources

Beaulac, S., The Power of Language in the Making of International Law. The Word Sovereignty in Bodin and Vattel and the Myth of Westphalia (Leiden, 2004).Google Scholar
Gough, J. W., The Social Contract. A Critical Study of Its Development, 2nd ed. (London, 1957).Google Scholar
Pateman, C. and Mills, C. W., Contract and Domination (Cambridge, 2007).Google Scholar
Stapelbroek, K. and Trampus, A. (eds.), The Legacy of Vattel’s Droit des gens (Basingstoke, 2019).Google Scholar
Weatherall, T., Jus Cogens. International Law and Social Compact (Cambridge, 2015).Google Scholar

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