«Man is Not a Wolf to Man, but a Human». On the Coexistence of Peoples in Another International Order. Francisco de Vitoria and the School of Salamanca

In the 16^th century, the Spanish University of Salamanca witnessed one of the most important intellectual events in European history, driven by the historical changes which, in turn, prompted the first wave of globalization that connected the world. It was the creation of the so-called School of Salamanca, a broad movement of philosophers, theologians, jurists, travelers and missionaries who reflected on the most pressing issues of the time: coexistence between different peoples, freedom, slavery, the right to property, just war and many others. Nowadays the globalization is different. In the 16^th century, Spain was a hegemon, and the defense of the Christian faith and its expansion was the main rationale behind territorial expansion. Today, the US is the hegemon of the Western world: it has imposed a unipolar order that legitimizes conflicts and clashes of greater or lesser intensity across the planet, supposedly in defense, not of the Christian faith, but of democracy and human rights. Therefore, it is important to explore some of the fundamental ideas of Francisco de Vitoria, founder of the School of Salamanca. He developed a theory on humanity and relations between nations based on his understanding of the qualities that every human being possesses by nature, which clashes with the currently dominant view of international relations, rooted in the Anglo-Saxon and Protestant perception of human nature, as opposed to the Hispanic and Catholic view. Hence, despite the distance that separates us from the world of Francisco de Vitoria and his theories, perhaps we should revisit the lessons of the University of Salamanca of the 16th century, which we seem to have forgotten.

1. Carpintero Benítez F. (2013) La ley natural. Una realidad aún por explicar [Natural law. A reality yet to be explained], Mexico City, UNAM, 440 p.

2. Casanova C.A. (2022) Francisco de Vitoria y John Locke ante la conquista de América: dos posturas encontradas [Francisco de Vitoria and John Locke on the conquest of America: two conflicting positions], in D. Torrijos-Castrillejo, J.L. Gutiérrez La escuela de Salamanca: la primera versión de la modernidad [The school of Salamanca: the first version of modernity], Madrid, Sindéresis, San Dámaso, pp. 29–43. (In Spanish)

3. Díaz Kayel B. (2005) El internacionalismo de Vitoria en la era de la Globalización [Vitoria’s internationalism in the age of Globalisation], Pamplona, Universidad de Navarra, 112 p. (In Spanish)

4. Espinosa Goded L. (2020) La escuela de Salamanca: lo que podemos aprender, hoy, del siglo XVII [The Salamanca School: What we can learn, today, from the 17th century], Koyuntura, no. 96, pp. 1–12. (In Spanish)

5. Fernández Ruiz-Gálvez E. (2017) El totus orbis y el ius gentium en Francisco de Vitoria: el equilibrio entre tradición e innovación [Totus orbis and ius gentium in Francisco de Vitoria: the balance between tradition and innovation], Cuadernos electrónicos de Filosofía del Derecho, pp. 19–43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7203/CEFD.35.9671 (In Spanish)

6. Fernández Sánchez P.A. (2022) ¿De verdad Francisco de Vitoria fue el padre del derecho internacional? [Was Francisco de Vitoria Really the Father of International Law?], Anuario Mexicano De Derecho Internacional, vol. 22, pp. 151–193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22201/iij.24487872e.2022.22.16951 (In Spanish)

7. Fukuyama F. (1992) El Fin de la Historia y el Último Hombre [The End of History and the Last Man], Barcelona, Planeta, 475 p. (In Spanish)

8. García Neumann J. (2023) Vitoria vs. Hobbes. Abandonar la geopolítica y asumir el derecho de gentes para un nuevo ordenamiento global [Vitoria vs. Hobbes. Abandone geopolitics and embrace the law of nations for a new global order], Revista De Las Cortes Generales, no. 116, pp. 439–482. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33426/rcg/2023/116/1783 (In Spanish)

9. Hobbes Th. (2018) Leviatán [Leviathan], Madrid, Alianza, 830 p. (In Spanish)

10. Huntington S. (2004) ¿Quiénes somos? Los desafíos a la identidad nacional estadounidense [Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity], Barcelona, Paidós Ibérica, 488 p. (In Spanish)

11. Iturbe M. (2012) The Natural Law in the Times of St. Francis Xavier: Francisco de Vitoria (1492–1546) in I. Arellano Ayuso, C. Mata Induráin (eds.) St. Francis Xavier and the Jesuit Missionary Enterprise: assimilations between cultures, Pamplona, Universidad de Navarra, pp. 71–89.

12. Kagan R. (2003) Of Paradise and power. America and Europe in the New World Order, New York, Alfred Knopf, 103 p.

13. Locke J. (2010) Segundo Tratado sobre el Gobierno Civil [Second Treatise of Government], Madrid, Tecnos, 376 p. (In Spanish)

14. Montenegro Baca J. (1966) Estudio de las leyes de Indias en las Facultades de Derecho Hispanoamericanas [Study of the laws of the Indies in the Spanish-American Law Schools], Revista de Política Social, no. 71, pp. 229–237. (In Spanish)

15. Solar Cayón J.I. (1998) Los derechos naturales en la filosofía política de Locke [Natural rights in Locke’s political philosophy], in G. Peces-Barba Martínez, E. Fernández García (dir.) Historia de los derechos fundamentales, Vol. I [History of Fundamental Rights, Vol. I], Madrid, Dikynson, Universidad Carllos III, pp. 601–636.

16. Varela Quirós L.A. (1990) Francisco de Vitoria y sus aportes al derecho internacional [Francisco de Vitoria and his contributions to International Law], Revista de Ciencias Jurídicas, no. 66, pp. 217–231. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15517/rcj.1990.15300 (In Spanish)

17. Vitoria F. de (2007) Sobre el poder civil. Sobre los indios. Sobre el derecho de guerra [On civilian power. On Indians. On the right of war], Madrid, Tecnos, 212 p. (In Spanish)

18. Vitoria F. de (2022) Los derechos humanos [Human Rights], Salamanca, San Esteban, 264 p. (In Spanish)