Anarchy or Obligation (1)_0.4952113

7/30/2019 Anarchy or Obligation (1)_0.4952113

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Anarchy or Obligation?

Lecture 1


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Overview

1. Origins of the Problem

2. The Core Issue

3. In Defence of Anarchy 4. Against Anarchy

5. Scepticism and Anarchy


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Obligation?


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P1: Origins of the Problem

Antigone: A Greek Tragedy

Thebes, 440 BCE

Polynices, Antigones

brother, dies fighting for

the throne

Creon, new King of

Thebes, decides that

traitors will not be buried

Antigone disagrees. She

buries the corpse of her

brother according to

religious traditions


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Bush: An American Tragedy


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Themes

Creon represents the State. Its Authority

its right to rule

Antigone represents the individual. Her

autonomyher freedom & responsibility

Q: Is there a Duty to obey the law?

Antigone does what she thinks is rightmorally; the law, she thinks, is morally

wrong; therefore, she disobeys


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Less than authoritative


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The Death of Socrates

Athens, 399 BCE

Socrates is sentenced to Death (he

corrupted the morals of the youth)

Crito offers to organize his escape


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The Death of Socrates


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Interpretation

Socrates argues against it. He defends his dutyto obey the law, i.e. to accept the deathsentence even if it was wrong

Socrates imagines a dialogue with the Laws of

the city 3 arguments: 1. the Laws like a father having begotten,

nurtured and educated him.

2. the Laws provided a share of all the fine

things 3. Socrates has by his act of staying, agreed

with the Laws to do what they demand of him


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P2: The Core Issue

Authority v Autonomy (Wolff)

Authority is the prerogative of the State

Autonomy is the prerogative of the individual

Obligation to Obey (Authority)

Obligation to be Free (Autonomy)

Question: how do we reconcile them?


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The Question

Is there a Duty to Obey the Law?

Short answer?

Long answer: Legal Obligation (Internal to the system)

Moral Obligation (External to the system)


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Illustration 1: Taxation as Slavery?

Outlandish

comparison?

Key common

element:nonconsensual

coercion

Why not be an

anarchist?


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Illustration 2: Military Draft


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P3: For Anarchy?

Political: reject moral

and legal obligations

to obey the law

Philosophical: rejectonly moral obligation.

Acknowledge varying

degrees of legal

obligations


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Philosophical Anarchy Defended

From Locke to Nozick: Libertarianism

Self-ownership

Natural rights as side constraints

Minimal State

Simmons: Individualism

Actual consent and Obligation to Obey

Each individual => relation with the State


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Caricatures


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P4: Against Anarchy: possible

grounds of obligation

Typology 1: voluntarist & non-voluntarist

theories

Typology 2: Associative Duties,

Transactional Duties, Natural Duties


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Non-Voluntarist Theories

1. Constitutive Obligations

2. Instrumental Justifications

3. Necessity


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Laws Empire?


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Constitutive Obligations

Premise: why should I obey is an absurd

question

Law is a social practice involving associations

Normally we look for an independent ground tojustify obligations

But some believe that we can find a ground

internal to the practice This ground refers to social roles

Fraternity or Paternity? Respect or obligation?


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Foundational Fraternal

Obligations


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Instrumental Justification

Authority helps you guiding your behaviour

Raz calls it the Normal Justification Thesis

What if there is a conflict of Authorities? How can you then justify the exercise of

Authority?

It may be helpful for Coordination


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Coordination?


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Necessity

Governments area should be that ofnecessity

Q 1: what tasks are necessary?

Presumptively beneficial goods Self-evident values (life, knowledge, play,

religion)

PB: some optional tasks are nonethelessvery important (e.g. official language)


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Authority and Voluntarist Theories


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Voluntarist Theories

1. Consent

2. Expressive Obligations

3. Fairness


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1. Consent

The right to rules derives from the consent

of the people

Q: whose consent?

Original or actual?

Unanimous or majority?

Q: to what?

To being killed?

To being enslaved?


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A Contract?


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2. Expressive Obligations

Gratitude (Socrates)

Analogy: Friendship & the obligations

stemming from it


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3. Fairness

Willingness to benefit

from a system of

mutual restraint

Fairness or Fair Play


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P4: A different TypologyAssociative

duty

Transactional

duty

Natural Duty

Who are we?

Roles andpositions

(Dworkin)

What do we

do?Consent;

Promise;

Benefit (Raz)

a) Advancing a

moral good(Finnis)

b) Universal

duty erga

omnes

Do we obey just

because we are

citizens?

Did you really

consent?

What do we

owe each

other?


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P5: Scepticism and Anarchism

Huge spectrum between Statism and

autonomy

Perhaps to position one self at the

extremes is problematic.

But to doubt that there is a general,

absolute, obligation to obey is only healthy

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Anarchy or Obligation (1)_0.4952113