Why has the idea of individual sovereignty been granted such primacy of place in free Western societies? Why were the men who formulated the Declaration of Independence willing to declare: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," and, further, to insist "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, derivi...