VARIABILIDAD DEL DERECHO NATURAL Y RETENCIÓN DE LAS INDIAS

There is one aspect of the famous 16th and 17th centuries dispute on the 'Just Titles' (justos títulos) which has not yet received proper philosophical analysis by scholars, namely: the possibility that, in the case that the Spanish occupation had been unjust, there still remains a title which would allow -or even force- the Crown to retain those lands. This article focuses on the approach to this issue by the Dominican Francisco de Vitoria, the Licenciado Francisco Falcón and the jurist Juan de Solórzano Pereira. Their argument, grounded on the Aristotelian claim that things that are just by nature are subject to change, states that, even if unlawfully acquired, the abandon of the Indies would certainly bring about more damage than benefits to the natives. Thus, the potential duty to restitute the conquered lands would either cease or, at least, be suspended while the situation remains the same.