It seems to be widely accepted in academic circles that the natural law is a static, absolute kind of law that has no place in providing a foundation for human rights in the modern world. This paper challenges this assumption. It first presents the arguments of some such critics and then turns to theology to see if, in fact, God can indeed serve as a foundation of human rights. Finally, the paper takes a new look at the natural law, not as portrayed by its critics, but as proposed by the scholastic tradition that is still at work today. The argument presented here forms part of a broader monograph on the subject of the foundation of rights by the same author.

好像學術界認為自然法是永恆不變的絕對法則，而且在今日世界不可使用自然法提供人權的基礎。本文與此想法完全不相同。本文首先提出批評自然法者的論說，然後從神學角度，式設天主作為人權的基礎。最後，本文從新的角度提出與學術界所了解的自然法不同的看法，即從士林哲學傳統裏，恢復自然法應有的面貌。本文的論說基於作者研究人權的整體思想體系，可參閱作者的英文書《在生命中追求真理：人權哲學的一種論說》（新北市新莊區：輔仁大學出版社，2012年初版）。