Hugo Grotius Pioneer of Modern International Law
The Netherlands in a Nutshell highlights from dutch history and culture Amsterdam University Press The Netherlands in a Nutshell The Netherlands in a Nutshell highlights from dutch history and culture Amsterdam University Press www.entoen.nu © 2008 Frits van Oostrom | Stichting entoen.nu isbn 978-90-8964-039-0 nur 688/840 Published by Amsterdam University Press, the Netherlands www.aup.nl Design: Kok Korpershoek, Amsterdam, the Netherlands All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Contents 7 Foreword 9 The canon of the Netherlands 112 Main lines of the canon When we, as individuals, pick and mix cultural elements for ourselves, we do not do so indiscriminately, but according to our natures. Societies, too, must retain the ability to discriminate, to reject as well as to accept, to value some things above others, and to insist 6 on the acceptance of those values by all their members. [...] If we are to build a plural society on the foundation of what unites us, we must face up to what divides. But the questions of core freedoms and primary loyalties can’t be ducked. No society, no matter how tolerant, can expect to thrive if its citizens don’t prize what their citizenship means – if, when asked what they stand for as Frenchmen, as Indians, as Britons, they cannot give clear replies.
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