ABSTRACT
"Classical Liberalism rested on the belief that there existed discoverable principles of just conduct of universal applicability which could be recognised as just irrespective of the effects of their application on particular groups". That means that the principles of justice can be recognised as right and obligatory in and by themselves. The only course open to liberalism is to turn to a doctrine of Natural Law or of Natural Rights to give a proper foundation to the inherent claims of justice. Justice is a positive notion and presupposes the value of the individual and his rights. The doctrine of Natural Rights, formulated in the eighteenth century, appears to articulate that sense of the dignity of the individual which liberalism requires. Moreover, the most destructive element in theories of Natural Rights, and their contemporary derivatives, is their liberation of the individual from duty. Duty was placed wholly on the side of the government, to serve the rights of the individual.
