problem of political authority Flashcards
vigilante example
represents the problem of political authority- an ordinary person hunts down vandals and imprisons them, only after the does he ask people to pay for his services. intuitively the vigilante is not entitled to force people to pay him and people are not obligated to pay him. the issue is that the vigilante appears analogous to a government. so why do we think the government is entitled to coerce us and why do we think ourselves obligated to obey, thus some theory of political authority is needed
political authority
authority of the state- two components are political obligation and political legitimacy
political obligation
subjects are supposed to be obligated to do what the government says, because the government commands it. people have to obey government commands that they would not have to obey if anyone else made them
political legitimacy
government is entitled to coerce people to obey it. government can use coercion in circumstances or for reasons that would not justify coercion on the part of any other agent.
content independence
the states authority is to a large extent independent of the content of its laws. in particular, the state can make incorrect or foolish laws, and they still have force
comprehensiveness
there is a wide range of human activities that the state has the right to regulate
supremacy
the state is the highest human authority. no one else can make and enforce commands on the rest of society as the state does, and no one may issue commands to the state. the state has authority over everyone in its territory and has the authority only over citizens and those in its territory.
coercion
the use of or threat to use physical force against a person
harmful coercion
coercion that harms the victim, distinguished from benevolent (paternalistic) coercion
the presumption against coercion
an intuitive moral principle to the effect that one should not harmfully coerce other people, unless one has good reason for doing so. good reasons incl. self defense, consent, necessity. bad reasons incl. desire to seize property, religious conversion, hatred.
the coercive nature of government
laws typically have some enforcement mechanism, often through threats to issue further commands but those also require enforcement. ultimate enforcement is through the threat of harmful coercion
the coercive nature of government
laws typically have some enforcement mechanism, often through threats to issue further commands but those also require enforcement. ultimate enforcement is through the threat of harmful coercion
solution to skepticism about political authority
rely on common sense intuitions and some abstract, universal theory of justice
