Law Versus Self-Interest

In Law Versus Self-Interest, R.J. Rushdoony critiques the modern abandonment of God’s objective law in favor of self-interest as the highest principle. Tracing this shift from Rome to Enlightenment humanism and into modern existentialism, he argues that the foundation of Western law moved from divine sovereignty to personal autonomy, culminating in a world governed by survival, gratification, and power. Once self-interest became the guiding force—whether in individuals, corporations, or the state—truth, justice, and objective law collapsed. Rushdoony warns that such foundations are sand, incapable of withstanding the storms of history, and urges a return to God’s law as the only true source of order, freedom, and enduring justice.