The rule of law is the defining mark of our humanity, installing locally what the logos furnishes universally. The overarching philosophy of Rome was that of the Stoics, whose commitment to rationality and the rule of law provided a durable intellectual foundation for Rome's imperial administration of much of the known world. According to the Stoics, the cosmos is ruled by law, which is evidence enough of a rational principle behind all natural phenomena. The cosmos is understood by rational beings to be itself a model of rational order. Only by way of language does one qualify for membership in that moral order of the universe, and thus human beings stand apart from the balance of nature.
Man is the only creature capable of thought and speech.
The human community is, above all, a linguistic community. To regard something as existing is to recognize it as having causal power, which entails corporeality of some sort. Natural rights are those inhering in a being because of its nature as a being of a certain sort. The rational and linguistic nature of human beings means they have certain liberties others do not. No person has the right to legislate for himself.