Authority of the State

Zusatztext 'The Authority of the State is a much more powerful and focused discussion of political obligation than most of what we see in the philosophical literature. Leslie Green knows political science as well as jurisprudence and he is in a position to evaluate in detail the claims that states and legal systems actually make, as opposed to the claims that philsophers attribute to them in their hypothetical examples. And so the book's insistence on the importance of consent and its hesitations about authority and obligation are more soundly based and much more interesting.' Jeremy Waldron, University Professor, NYU Law School Klappentext The modern state claims supreme authority over the lives of all its citizens. Drawing together political philosophy, jurisprudence, and public choice theory, this book forces the reader to reconsider some basic assumptions about the authority of the state. Various popular and influential theories - conventionalism, contractarianism, and communitarianism - are assessed by the author and found to fail. Leslie Green argues that only the consent of the governed can justify the state's claims to authority. While he denies that there is a general obligation to obey the law, he nonetheless rejects philosophical anarchism and defends civility - the willingness to tolerate some imperfection in institutions - as a political virtue. Zusammenfassung Drawing together political philosophy, jurisprudence, and public choice theory, this study forces the reader to reconsider some basic assumptions about the authority of the state. Various popular theories - conventionalism, contractarianism, and communitarianism - are assessed by the author.

Product details

• Authors: Leslie Green, Leslie (Professor of the Philosophy of Law Green, Leslie (Professor of the Philosophy of Law at the University of Oxford Green, Green Leslie
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 05.07.1990
• EAN: 9780198273134
• ISBN: 978-0-19-827313-4
• No. of pages: 284
• Series: Clarendon Paperbacks; Clarendon Paperbacks
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; PHILOSOPHY / Social, PHILOSOPHY / Political, LAW / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory, Social & political philosophy, Political science & theory, social and political philosophy, Political science and theory, Jurisprudence & Philosophy Of Law, Methods, theory and philosophy of law