Legitimacy as a Mere Moral Power? A Response to Applbaum

• Authors: Jiafeng Zhu
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In a recent article, Arthur Applbaum contributes a new view—legitimacy as a moral power—to the debate over the concept of political legitimacy. Applbaum rejects competing views of legitimacy, in particular legitimacy as a claim-right to have the law obeyed, for mistakenly invoking substantive moral argument in the conceptual analysis, and concludes that “at the core of the concept—what legitimacy is” is only a Hohfeldian moral power. In this article, I contend that: (1) Applbaum’s view of legitimacy, when fully unfolded, refers to more than a mere moral power and should therefore be rejected even by his own standards; (2) Applbaum’s rejection of competing views of legitimacy ultimately relies on a claim that he does not successfully defend, namely, the claim that moral duties are of absolute rather than prima facie force.

Keywords

EN

Applbaum; duty to obey; legitimacy; power-liability; Raz; Simmons

• Publisher: Instytut Filozofii - Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Diametros
• Year: 2012
• Issue: 33
• Pages: 120-137

Contributors

author

Jiafeng Zhu

• University of Hong Kong

References

• Applbaum [2010] – A. Applbaum, Legitimacy without the Duty to Obey, “Philosophy & Public Affairs” (38) 2010.
• Christiano [2008] – T. Christiano, The Constitution of Equality: Democratic Authority and Its Limits, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2008.
• Copp [1999] – D. Copp, The Idea of a Legitimate State, “Philosophy and Public Affairs” (28) 1999.
• Raz [1977] – J. Raz, Promises and Obligation, in: Law, Morality and Society: Essays in Honor of H. L. A. Hart, ed. H. L. A. Hart, P. M. S. Hacker, and J. Raz, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1977.
• Raz [1985] – J. Raz, Authority and Justification, “Philosophy and Public Affairs” (14) 1985.
• Raz [2006] – J. Raz, The Problem of Authority: Revisiting the Service Conception, “Minnesota Law Review” (90) 2006.
• Simmons [1979] – A.J. Simmons, Moral Principles and Political Obligations, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1979.
• Simmons [1993] – A.J. Simmons, On the Edge of Anarchy: Locke, Consent, and the Limits of Society, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1993,
• Simmons [1999] – A.J. Simmons, Justification and Legitimacy, “Ethics” (109) 1999.
• Simmons [2001] – A.J. Simmons, Justification and Legitimacy: Essays on Rights and Obligations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001.
• Simmons [2005a] – A.J. Simmons, Consent Theory for Libertarians, “Social Philosophy & Policy” (22) 2005.
• Simmons [2005b] – A.J. Simmons, The Duty to Obey and Our Natural Moral Duties, [in:] Is There a Duty to Obey the Law?, ed. C.H. Wellman and A.J. Simmons, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005.

Identifiers

DOI

10.13153/diam.33.2012.493