Raz

Question 1

what is the service conception of authority

Answer 1

• thinking about what to do all the time is awfully time consuming and draining, thus he argues that the law is providing a service by making decisions for us.
• the role and primary normal function of the law is to serve the governed, by making decisions easier and helping subjects to act on reasons which bind them

Question 2

what does the service conception of authority have to do with gaps in the law

Answer 2

the service conception of authority insinuates that when faced with a gap in the law one should choose to adhere, as the law is simply helping one to think rationally and will be aligned with their prior dependent reasons and what the best decision is in the long run

Question 3

what does the service conception of authority have to do with preemptive reasons

Answer 3

• authority’s do not have the right to impose completely independent duties on people, because their directives should reflect dependent reasons which are binding on those people in any case
• the service conception of authority Is that the law is helping us to make better decisions, thus the law should be in alignment with initial rational dependent reasons
• because the law should reflect previous dependent reasons, it has the right to preempt those reasons and replace peoples own judgments

Question 4

Raz argument for preemption

Answer 4

1. the commands of authority are (supposed to be) based on dependent reasons
2. For some S, deference to authority in gaps is better than using S’s own judgment (S is more likely to be better off in the long run, S doesn’t have to think about every case so S is better able to engage in long term projects)
3. So (given 2) S has content independent reasons to look to authority
4. These reasons either: only sometimes outweigh S’s other reasons, always outweigh S’s other reasons, or preempt S’s other reasons.
5. If these reasons do not preempt S’s other reasons, then these content-independent reasons are weighed along with dependent reasons
6. thus (given 1 and 5) if these content independent reasons do not preempt S’s other reasons, then what is wrong/permissible/obligatory is based on double counting reasons
7. what is wrong/permissible/obligatory is not based on double counting reasons
8. thus, content independent reasons preempt other reasons

Question 5

Raz argument for service conception

Answer 5

• it is hard to figure out what to do
• the law considers what we should do and provides a layout of what good ration decisions look like
• this is a service
• the law is providing a service which allows people to make ration choices