Book contents
- Concepts and Contexts of Vattel’s Political and Legal Thought
- Concepts and Contexts of Vattel’s Political and Legal Thought
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Concepts and Contexts of Vattel’s Political and Legal Thought
- Part I Historical and Intellectual Contexts
- 1 In Search of a Nation
- 2 Sovereignty Contested
- 3 The Development of the Law of Nations
- 4 Vattel and the Abbé de Choisy
- 5 Vattel and the Seven Years’ War
- Part II Concepts
- Part III Receptions
- Index
- References
1 - In Search of a Nation
Vattel, Neuchâtel, and the Swiss Confederacy
from Part I - Historical and Intellectual Contexts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 June 2021
- Concepts and Contexts of Vattel’s Political and Legal Thought
- Concepts and Contexts of Vattel’s Political and Legal Thought
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Concepts and Contexts of Vattel’s Political and Legal Thought
- Part I Historical and Intellectual Contexts
- 1 In Search of a Nation
- 2 Sovereignty Contested
- 3 The Development of the Law of Nations
- 4 Vattel and the Abbé de Choisy
- 5 Vattel and the Seven Years’ War
- Part II Concepts
- Part III Receptions
- Index
- References
Summary
In the preface of his Law of Nations, Emer de Vattel stated that ‘I was born in a country of which liberty is the soul, the treasure, and the fundamental law; and my birth qualifies me to be the friend of all nations’. At first sight, it seems evident that this country is Switzerland. Vattel’s statement perfectly dovetails with the eighteenth-century discourse that praised the country as a haven of peace and frugality and applauded the republican autonomy of the Swiss. In scholarly literature, Vattel is usually considered as a Swiss legal scholar. However, the question of which country Vattel considered as his native country is not trivial when we take a closer look – and it may offer us a key to a better understanding of important parts of his work.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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