ブックタイトル佐藤栄作　受賞論文集

概要

佐藤栄作　受賞論文集

第20回優秀賞the rule of the law. The failure to do so, in turn, results in disbelief in the rules andin disregard of the institutions. Prizing more the rituals of enumerating rights ratherthan making efforts to effectively incorporating them in the core of the society leadsto discontentment and disrespect, in the highest form, of the rule of the law. Theconsequences are well known: disruption and escalation of violence and widespreadfear. 115 years after the French Revolution, its tragic lessons have yet to be learnedby some states in Central and South America, Africa and Asia.3．The Individual Person and the NationAs nation-states emerged with functional identities, to wit, flags, anthems,boundaries, nationality criteria, customs and currencies 2 , collective and‘from above’concepts such as nationhood, statehood, self-determination, self-organization, andsovereignty grew in power and strength in political rhetoric. It is, nevertheless, crucialto understand beforehand the role and the prerogatives of an individual person in thecommunity called nation-state, provided that the human component is essential in itsestablishment.It is indeed no accident that terms such as‘we the people of…’or‘droit de l’homme’are stated in the preamble of constitutions or declarations. They highlight the factthat any effort to build a nation must be made by men and women who, based ontheir free will, committed to incorporate and defend the liberty 3 and to establish andrespect a genuine system of rule of the law. These solemn words also call to the mindthe very fact that, at last instance, the rise and the decline of a nation is determined2 Curiously, this identity is clearly enumerated in French Constitution of 1958:“L’embleme national est le drapeau tricolore bleu, blanc, rouge.L’hymme national est la Marseillaise.La devise de la Republique est Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite”.(Constitution de 1958, Section 2)[The national emblem is the tricolor blue, white and red. The national anthem is the Marseillaise. The motto of theRepublicisLiberty,EqualityandFraternity.]3 As Lord John Acton (1834-1902) predicated:“Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of beingable to do what we ought?”.299