 In addition to its intrinsic interest, Grotius’ innovative conception of rights had numerous important consequences. Two examples may serve as illustrations. First, whereas medieval theorists tended to speak of “the right”, Grotius and his successors stressed the powers and entitlements of the person who has rights. By associating rights with the powers of a person, moderns were able to distinguish sharply between rights on the one hand versus duties on the other (cf. Finnis 1980: 209). Second, because Grotius made rights into powers or faculties which humans possessed, he played a crucial part in the commoditization of rights. Once rights became possessions, they can be traded away just like all other possessions. The means of transfer might not be identical to other exchanges of goods but the essential idea of giving away something in one’s possession for something which isn’t is there. As commentators have argued, the commoditization of rights was one of the most important political developments of the seventeenth century (for more, see especially Macpherson 1962: 3f).