ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces one of the seminal figures in the historical development of the just war tradition: Hugo Grotius. While the just war tradition is faced with contending approaches from revisionists and traditionalists, Grotius' way of dealing with the diversity of sources in his day provides an insight into how we might also make arguments about the use of force in the modern world. Grotius' ability to bring together a vast range of theological, philosophical, literary, and historical works in support of his attempt to make sense of war provides a model for what just war theorists should do and the difficulties of so doing. It is the Christian charity, or charity more generally, that differentiates Grotius' insights on war from the "rigorous" philosophical insights that shape so much of not only McMahan's work but many 21st century theorists of just war.
