Grotius showed that selling a people sells only the public-ruling right, not the persons
Evidence
This division within the individual which is the basis for the subjugation of the many by the one was already recognized by Grotius. Grotius countered the objection that the power of the ruler cannot be acquired by purchase since it concerns free men, by distinguishing between private and public subjection. In contrast to subjectio privata, subjectio publica does not eliminate sui juris esse* When a people is sold, the object of the sale are not the individuals but only jus cos regendi, qua populus sunt [the right of ruling them, insofar as they are a people]. — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 5322
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: how this Grotius doctrine of partial subjection fed later social-contract theory, and whether it parallels the modern idea that citizens delegate only specific powers to the state.