The Duty to Obey the Law Selected Philosophical Readings

by Edmundson, William A.; Green, Leslie; Greenawalt, Kent; Hirschmann, Nancy J.; Klosko, George; Murphy, Mark C.; Rawls, John; Raz, Joseph; Sartorius, Rolf; Simmons, A John; Smith, M.B.E; Soper, Philip; Waldron, Jeremy; Wasserstrom, Richard A.; Wolff, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780847692552
• ISBN10: 0847692558
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-12-23
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

The question Why should I obey the law? introduces a contemporary puzzle that is as old as philosophy itself. The puzzle is especially troublesome if we think of cases in which breaking the law is not otherwise wrongful, and in which the chances of getting caught are negligible. Philosophers from Socrates to H.L.A. Hart have struggled to give reasoned support to the idea that we do have a general moral duty to obey the law but, more recently, the greater number of learned voices has expressed doubt that there is any such duty, at least as traditionally conceived.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Obligation to Obey the Law	p. 17
The Justification of Civil Disobedience	p. 49
The Conflict between Authority and Autonomy	p. 63
Is There a Prima Facie Obligation to Obey the Law?	p. 75
The Principle of Fair Play	p. 107
Political Authority and Political Obligation	p. 143
The Obligation to Obey: Revision and Tradition	p. 159
Legitimate Authority and the Duty to Obey	p. 177
Presumptive Benefit, Fairness, and Political Obligation	p. 193
Legal Theory and the Claim of Authority	p. 213
Freedom, Recognition, and Obligation: A Feminist Approach to Political Theory	p. 243
Special Ties and Natural Duties	p. 271
Who Believes in Political Obligation?	p. 301
Surrender of Judgment and the Consent Theory of Political Authority	p. 319
Index	p. 347
About the Contributors	p. 351
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