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Francisco de Vitoria and the Nomos of the Code: The Digital Commons and Natural Law, Digital Communication as a Human Right, Just Cyber-Warfare

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Book cover At the Origins of Modernity

Part of the book series: Studies in the History of Law and Justice ((SHLJ,volume 10))

Abstract

This chapter concentrates on a contemporary reading of Vitoria’s De Indis for the digital age, employing Skinner’s method of contextualization by critically extending it to contemporary contexts, as a form of “intended prolepsis” that generates a coherent system of international digital legal thought. The systematic importance of the commons in Vitoria’s thought is first underlined and then applied to current issues, for example cyber-wars, post-humanism and copyright, whilst giving a critical new reading of a broad range of Vitoria’s texts, such as De indis, De iure belli, De homicidio, De potestate civili and his commentary on Aquinas.

http://www.spiegel.de/impressum/autor-23613.html.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    de Vitoria 1995 (De potestate civili), 21.

  2. 2.

    Lessig 1999.

  3. 3.

    Hardin 1968.

  4. 4.

    Dean 2003.

  5. 5.

    Giesen 2014, Solis 2014, Hildebrandt 2013.

  6. 6.

    Bratton 2014.

  7. 7.

    For example: Desantes Guanter 1999.

  8. 8.

    Skinner 2002, Foucault 1972, Thumfart 2013.

  9. 9.

    Harlan 1989.

  10. 10.

    Nys 1894, Brown 2000, Schmitt 1997, Walzer 1997.

  11. 11.

    Hardin 1968.

  12. 12.

    Good introductory texts on these phenomena are: Benkler 2006, Lessig 2005, Shirky 2010.

  13. 13.

    For example: Wallerstein 1974.

  14. 14.

    Hildebrandt 2013, 206.

  15. 15.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Indis), III, Primus titulus, 1.

  16. 16.

    de Vitoria 2010, 278.

  17. 17.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Indis), III, Primus titulus, 5.

  18. 18.

    de Vitoria 1995 (De potestate civili), 2.

  19. 19.

    Own translation. As an exception, the English translation by Pagden is not adequate at this place: “Every atom exists for some use or purpose” is not contained in the Latin version, but maybe he is working from another manuscript. de Vitoria 2010, 6. Pagden also entirely omits the epistemological point that this purpose must be the beginning of our understanding, which de Vitoria 1995 mentions.

  20. 20.

    Hildebrandt, Mireille 2013, 214.

  21. 21.

    de Vitoria 1995 (De homicidio), 1.

  22. 22.

    de Vitoria 1928 (In IIa-IIae) q. 57, a. 3. There is no English translation available.

  23. 23.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Indis), I, 12,1.

  24. 24.

    de Vitoria 2010, 248.

  25. 25.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Indis), III, Primus titulus, 1.

  26. 26.

    de Vitoria 2010, 279.

  27. 27.

    Simondon 2011, Stiegler 1998.

  28. 28.

    Kelly 2010.

  29. 29.

    Lessig 2005.

  30. 30.

    Levy 2010.

  31. 31.

    Lessig 2005.

  32. 32.

    Schmitt 2006.

  33. 33.

    MacKinnon 2013.

  34. 34.

    Hildebrandt 2013, 197.

  35. 35.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Indis), III, Primus titulus, 1: “Nunquam (…) fuit intentio gentium per illam divisionem (rerum) tollere hominum invicem communicationem”.

  36. 36.

    de Vitoria 1995 (De potestate civili), 4.

  37. 37.

    Girolami (De bono communi), IX.

  38. 38.

    de Vitoria 1995 (De potestate civili), 5.

  39. 39.

    Aquinas (Sententia Politicorum), II, 1, 6.

  40. 40.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Indis), I, Tertia Propositio, 15.

  41. 41.

    de Vitoria 2010, 250.

  42. 42.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Indis), III, 4.

  43. 43.

    de Vitoria 2010, 281.

  44. 44.

    de Vitoria 1995 (De homicidio), 18.

  45. 45.

    Buchanan 2011.

  46. 46.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Indis), III, II, Articulus II (IX) Utrum cum infidelibus possit communicari: “Non est dubium quin converteremus ad fidem Christi maiorem partem saracenorum, si cum eius haberemus familiaritatem, quia in secta sua non habent nisi meras fabulas et meras nugas”.

  47. 47.

    Shirky 2003.

  48. 48.

    Giesen 2014, Solis 2014, Hildebrandt 2013.

  49. 49.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De indis), III, 7, 17.

  50. 50.

    Hildebrandt 2013.

  51. 51.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Iure Belli), IV, 1, 6, 2.

  52. 52.

    NATO 2014.

  53. 53.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Iure Belli), IV, 2.

  54. 54.

    Solis is wrong in ascribing the invention of the ius post bellum to Kant. Solis 2014.

  55. 55.

    de Vitoria 1997 (De Iure Belli), Conclusiones.

  56. 56.

    de Vitoria 2010, 327.

  57. 57.

    Brett 2003.

  58. 58.

    Schmitt 2006, Koskenniemi 2010, Anghie 2004.

  59. 59.

    Marx 1975.

  60. 60.

    Clinton protected her own e-mails to an illegal extent.

  61. 61.

    Morozov 2011.

  62. 62.

    Brito and Watkins 2011.

  63. 63.

    Kelion 2015.

  64. 64.

    Barbrook and Cameron 1995, Lanier 2010.

  65. 65.

    Hildebrandt 2013.

  66. 66.

    Dean 2003.

  67. 67.

    de Vitoria 1928 In IIa-IIae, q. 62.

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    Johannes Thumfart

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  1. Institute for European Studies, CEU San Pablo University, Madrid, Spain

    José María Beneyto

  2. Institute for European studies, CEU San Pablo University , Madrid, Spain

    Justo Corti Varela

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Thumfart, J. (2017). Francisco de Vitoria and the Nomos of the Code: The Digital Commons and Natural Law, Digital Communication as a Human Right, Just Cyber-Warfare. In: Beneyto, J., Corti Varela, J. (eds) At the Origins of Modernity. Studies in the History of Law and Justice, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62998-8_11

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