The Nature of Authority
The Nature of Authority
Looking for an examination copy?
If you are interested in the title for your course we can consider offering an examination copy. To register your interest please contact [email protected] providing details of the course you are teaching.
The Nature of Authority provides a comprehensive theory of the nature of authoritative guidance. It argues that the following claims exhaust the constitutive properties of authoritative tellings: authoritative tellings (1) tell subjects what to do; (2) give rise to reasons to comply; (3) are issued by personal beings and govern the behavior of personal beings; (4) are issued by rationally competent beings and govern the behavior of rationally competent beings; (5) are issued under a claim of right that counts as plausible in virtue of being grounded in a system to which subjects acquiesce as governing their behavior; (6) are issued by beings with the power to impose their will on subjects with respect to what they do; (7) create obligations to comply; and (8) are backed by a threat of detriment that is reasonably contrived to deter enough noncompliance to enable the system to minimally achieve its ends.
Product details
December 2024Adobe eBook Reader
9781009255783
0 pages
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Part I. Preliminary Considerations:
- 1. Introduction
- 2. The existence conditions of practical authority
- 3. Claims (1) through (7) and the sanctions thesis
- 4. The Razian theory of practical authority
- Part II. The Existence Conditions of Practical Authority
- 5. The constitutive properties of authoritative tellings
- 6. Other candidates for constitutive properties of authoritative tellings
- Part III. Claims (1) through (7) and the Sanctions Thesis:
- 7. Practical authority as telling people what to do
- 8. Practical authority as a source of reasons to comply
- 9. Practical authority as a personal relationship
- 10. Practical authority as rational
- 11. Practical authority as the power of will-imposition
- 12. Practical authority as grounded in a claim of right
- 13. Practical authority as giving rise to obligations
- 14. Must authoritative tellings create exclusionary reasons?
- 15. Objections – Of angels and emergency volunteers
- Conclusions
- Bibliography.
