The problem of political authority. The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey: The Independent Review: The Independent Institute 2022-12-24

The problem of political authority Rating: 9,1/10 1025 reviews

Political authority refers to the legitimate power that governments or other political entities have to make and enforce laws, policies, and decisions that affect a population. The problem of political authority is the question of where this legitimate power comes from and how it is justified. There have been many different theories and approaches to this question throughout history, and it remains a central issue in political philosophy and political science.

One approach to the problem of political authority is the social contract theory, which proposes that government is based on a hypothetical agreement between individuals to give up some of their natural rights in exchange for the protection and benefits of living in a society. According to this view, political authority is justified because it is based on the consent of the governed, who have agreed to be bound by the laws and decisions of the government.

Another approach is the divine right of kings, which holds that political authority is divinely ordained and that rulers have a divine right to rule. This theory was influential in the Middle Ages and is still held by some religious groups today. However, it has been largely rejected by modern democracies, which tend to view political authority as coming from the people rather than from a higher power.

A third approach is the utilitarian view, which asserts that the purpose of political authority is to promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. According to this view, political authority is justified because it helps to promote the overall well-being of society.

There are also more radical approaches to the problem of political authority, such as anarchism, which rejects the idea of government altogether and advocates for the abolition of all forms of political authority.

Ultimately, the problem of political authority is a complex and multifaceted issue that has been debated by philosophers and political theorists for centuries. It is important to consider the various approaches and theories when thinking about the role and purpose of government and the nature of legitimate political power.

The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey: The Independent Review: The Independent Institute

the problem of political authority

The author discusses the problem of political authority in a 'common sens' setting and how and why anarcho-capitalism might be a better alternative. The example Noam Chomsky gives is that it's ok for me to push you out of the way of a car, even if it hurts you, and to not ask your consent first. If you wanted payment, you should have said so at the start. Huemer did the work. Even if we granted that the state owns its territory, it is debatable whether it may expel people who reject the social contract compare the following: if anyone who leaves my party before it is over is doomed to die, then, one might think, I lose the right to kick people out of my party. This makes your relationship with the government a nonvoluntary, noncontractual one, regardless of whether you are actually happy with the relationship.


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The Problem of Political Authority

the problem of political authority

What about the party example? The contract requires the government to provide certain services for the population, notably protection from private criminals and hostile foreign governments. Does the state ever fail in this duty? The mission of Independent is to boldly advance peaceful, prosperous, and free societies grounded in a commitment to human worth and dignity. Suppose you are a victim of a serious crime that the government could easily have prevented, at little cost, had it made a reasonable effort to do so. The government does not require anyone other than prisoners to remain in the country, and it is well known that those who live within a given country are expected to obey the laws and pay taxes. In particular, regulations that limit the exploitation of the voiceless, ie animals, would be weakened.

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THE PROBLEM OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY on JSTOR

the problem of political authority

Despite this apparent variety of topics, the contributors to the volume share Winch's conviction that the different areas of philosophy are interdependent. I enjoyed this book. This book examines theories of political authority, from the social contract theory, to theories of democratic authorization, to fairness- and consequence-based theories. He provides a cool, and intellectually honest defense of a stateless society. There are many cases in which we cannot tell whether a law is just or unjust; justice is a difficult subject.

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Huemer The Problem of Political Authority blog.sigma-systems.com

the problem of political authority

To make things worse, the usual mechanisms that democracies use to prevent such risks -- activism, media exposition, and constitutional checks -- fail to prevent the misuse of political authority; they may mitigate the problem, but not eliminate it altogether. More than that: the author points out how the needs of "national defence" proposed by realist literature in fact may lead to increased security risks, and how even societies without standing armies could resist an invasion through non-violent resistance or guerilla warfare. To argue against the justification for authority, Huemer shows how several common strategies fail: social contract theory, democratic theory, consequentialism, and fairness. The next version of social contract theory is designed to avoid these problems. Consider next the case of consent through presence. He claims, not implausibly, that keeping a large standing army with global reach actually makes it more likely that the society will engage in unwarranted aggression, which is the sort of thing that provokes reprisals.

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Read Download The Problem Of Political Authority PDF

the problem of political authority

The process is of course not monotonic--there are cases of stagnation and regression--but the undeniable difference between humanity's knowledge today and its knowledge 2000 years ago is staggering. Michael Huemer argues that political authority is an illusion and that no one is entitled to rule over anyone. As he points out, Rawls in particular writes in a kind of legalese, that, at least for me, makes a close analysis painstaking. And, because the impact would be very large, potentially leading to chaos, when we multiply the probability with the impact, it still means that utilitarians and consequentialists in general should obey the law in most cases. Accepting that the fact that the question normative ethics has not yet been settled normative ethics is the branch of ethics in which examines questions like, "what is good? Suppose that you order food in a restaurant.

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The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey

the problem of political authority

This book examines theories of political authority, from the social contract theory, to theories of democratic authorization, to fairne Modern states commonly deploy coercion in a wide array of circumstances in which the resort to force would clearly be wrong for any private agent. You provide I lie prisoners with food so they don't starve, but you plan to keep i licin locked in the basement for a few years to teach them a lesson. The one form of implicit consent not ruled out by this principle is consent through presence. These four conditions belong to the common sense conception of consent and contracts. In the next section, I apply these principles to the putative social contract. Otherwise, the default assumption is that you agree to participate in the normal practice. This example is from Simmons 1979, 79—80.

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The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey by Michael Huemer

the problem of political authority

When the individual is This definitive treatise of anarcho-capitalist philosophy was a disappointment, as I quickly spotted gaps and unreasonable assumptions within its major premises that were never addressed or acknowledged. He discusses and rebuts the major theories supporting political authority's rightfulness: implicit social contract theory, hypothetical contract theories, democratic theories of authority, and utilitarian theories. I will not give the main outline of the book as many others have done so. Explicit consent is consent that one indicates by stating, either verbally or in writing, that one consents. I really enjoyed this book. Political authority is the moral property in virtue of which governments may coerce people in certain ways not permitted to anyone else and in which citizens must obey their governments even when they would not be obligated to obey anyone else. Debate format ensures a full hearing of both sides.


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Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey

the problem of political authority

Daniel Layman argues that democratic governments have authority because they are needed to protect our rights and because they are accountable to the people. Second, large-scale coordination is necessary to address externalities that can pose existential risks. If the waitress never brings the food, then you need not pay them; their failure to live up to their end of the deal releases you from the obligation to live up to yours. Si es moral que pueda en algunas circunstancias usar la coacción, ¿por qué es inmoral que lo haga un individuo o entidad privada, en las mismas circunstancias? If there is a contract between the state and its citizens, then the state must have some obligation to do something for the citizens. What happens when it does? Traditionally, the way to correct for market failures has been for regulation by government.

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The Problem of Political Authority

the problem of political authority

Supremacy esta parte está mal en el formato epub, pero bien en el pdf El estado no tiene derecho de supremacía. The Ravens Paradox, in which observing a purple shoe provides evidence that all ravens are black. If a board chairman cannot demand that board members pay him a dollar to express dissent from a proposed schedule change, how can someone be required to give up home and job and leave all friends and family behind to express disagreement with a contract? Long ago, one might have grounded the authority of the state—or more precisely, the monarch—in raw power or the divine will. If a person agrees to be subjected to a particular form of coercion, then, as a rule, that coercion will not be wrong and will not violate his rights. Yet every government continues to impose laws and taxes on anarchists.


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