God Arises
Religion and Society
~ 393 ~
jurisprudence was developed into an independent
branch of knowledge, thus becoming a subject for
specialization.
The ancient philosophers derived their legal
principles from certain axioms, which they called
natural rights. After the 16th century, the
intellectual revolution of Europe demonstrated that
these ‘axioms’ were actually only suppositions for
which there existed no rational basis. Individual
freedom subsequently came to be established as the
greatest good, which could provide the basis for
forming laws. But the consequences of the
industrial revolution showed that, given individual
freedom as the summum bonum, it leads us only to
the exploitation of humanity, and to anarchy. Then
the social good came to be considered the highest
good which could provide guiding principles for
legislation. But when this concept was first carried
into effect it led to the most horrific political
repression, in the name of public ownership. High
hopes had indeed been held out that this new social
order would guarantee greater justice for
individuals, but a long experiment revealed that not
only did the system of public ownership—being an
