This is why the Declaration of Independence sources rights to the “laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” Human reason, so the theory goes, can examine the character and activities of mankind and determine what mankind was meant to do—and what liberties mankind was handed in order to pursue those purposes. Thus, the natural law logic that prizes reason as the highest end of man results in liberty as the chief requirement of man. Man’s unique nature lies at the center of any rationale for human rights.
