Doctrine of Natural Rights 99
appear as we proceed. Let us proceed with the special sub-
ject of this lecture.
III. THE DOCTRINE OF NATURAL RIGHTS AND THE
DEGRADATION OF DEMOCRATIC DOGMA
A
It is often supposed that the dogma of the rights of man
is a modern creation—the product of the enlightenment of
the eighteenth century and of the optimism of the nine-
teenth. Quite the opposite is the truth. It had its origin in
Greek and Christian theology and philosophy, more specifi-
cally in the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. It was born
out of the belief in reason and rationality which also gave
rise to the scientific dogma of which we have spoken. The
same forces which gave rise to the degradation of the one
led also to the degradation of the other.
But let us first state this democratic dogma in the famil-
iar modern form. “We hold it to be self-evident that all
men are created free and equal and endowed by their Crea-
tor with certain inalienable rights.” So the bill of rights in
the Constitution of the United States; or, as expressed in
the Virginia Bill of Rights, “All men are by nature equally
free and independent and have certain inherent rights of
which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot
by any compact deprive or divest their posterity, namely,
the enjoyment of life and liberty and the means of acquiring
and possessing property and pursuing and obtaining happi-
ness and safety.”
How could such a doctrine be grafted upon the evolu-
tionary naturalism of the nineteenth century? In the nature
of the case, it could not, and it is to Nietzsche’s eternal
credit that he saw that it could not be done. He saw clearly,
and repeated it constantly, that it is only upon the basis of