Schall: Reflections on the Natural Law
An essay by James V. Schall, S.J. at First Principles:
The fact remains that the terms “rights” and “values” are modern terms originating in and solidly grounded in modern political philosophy. They do not mean what the old Latin word justum or jus (words sometimes translated as “right”) meant. These words indicated the proper object of the virtue of justice, the what it is that is “due.” For Hobbes, which is where the modern word comes from, a “right” meant whatever was enforced by the Leviathan, no limits except power. For Max Weber, a “value” was explicitly not any objective truth or principle, but an object of desire or will and could have no grounding in reason. The effort of many Christian thinkers to make these words mean something other than what they were designed to imply, that is, to keep the language but change the meaning, is more than an uphill battle. Words carry their own baggage, whether we like it or not.