The Principle of Fairness and Political Obligation

The Principle of Fairness and Political Obligation
Author: George Klosko
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2004
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780742533752

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In The Principle of Fairness and Political Obligation, George Klosko presents the first book-length treatment of political obligation grounded in the premises of liberal political theory. In this now-classic work, he clearly and systematically formulates what others thought impossible-a principle of fairness that specifies a set of conditions which grounds existing political obligations and bridges the gap between the abstract accounts of political principles and the actual beliefs of political actors. Brought up-to-date with a new introduction, this new edition will be of great interest to all interested in political thought.

Political Obligations

Political Obligations
Author: George Klosko
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2005-03-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0191531308

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Political Obligations provides a full defense of a theory of political obligation based on the principle of fairness (or fair play), which is widely viewed as the strongest theory of obligation currently available. The work responds to the most important objections to the principle of fairness, and extends a theory based on fairness into a developed 'multiple principle' theory of obligation. In order to establish the need for such a theory, Political Obligations criticizes alternative theories of obligation based on a natural duty of justice and 'reformist' consent, and critically examines the non-state theories of libertarian and philosophical anarchists. The work breaks new ground by providing the first in-depth study of popular attitudes towards political obligations and how the state itself views them. The attitudes of ordinary citizens are explored through small focus groups, while the 'self image of the state' in regard to the obligations of its citizens is studied through examination of judicial decisions in three different democratic countries.

A Theory of Justice

A Theory of Justice
Author: John RAWLS
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 624
Release: 2009-06-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0674042603

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Though the revised edition of A Theory of Justice, published in 1999, is the definitive statement of Rawls's view, so much of the extensive literature on Rawls's theory refers to the first edition. This reissue makes the first edition once again available for scholars and serious students of Rawls's work.

Playing Fair

Playing Fair
Author: Richard Dagger
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2018
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0199388830

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"This book addresses two long-standing concerns of political and legal philosophy: the problems of political obligation and of punishment. Even though political obligation and punishment are often treated as independent topics and there are broad literatures on each, Richard Dagger sees them as closely related problems and attempts to resolve them together. Dagger first establishes the principle of fair play--the idea that citizens in a cooperative venture have obligations to each other to shoulder a fair share of the burdens because they receive a fair share of the benefits of cooperation--as the basis of political obligation. Dagger then argues that the members of a reasonably just polity have an obligation to obey its laws because they have an obligation of reciprocity or fair play to one another. This theory of political obligation then provides answers to fundamental and still debated questions about how to justify punishment, who has the right to carry it out, and how much to punish. He concludes by bringing the two concerns together to rebuke those who deny the possibility of a general obligation to obey the law, to defend the link between political authority and obligation, and to establish the proper scope of criminal law"--

Moral Principles and Political Obligations

Moral Principles and Political Obligations
Author: A. John Simmons
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2020-05-05
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0691213240

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Outlining the major competing theories in the history of political and moral philosophy--from Locke and Hume through Hart, Rawls, and Nozick--John Simmons attempts to understand and solve the ancient problem of political obligation. Under what conditions and for what reasons (if any), he asks, are we morally bound to obey the law and support the political institutions of our countries?

The Duty to Obey the Law

The Duty to Obey the Law
Author: William Atkins Edmundson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 366
Release: 1999
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780847692552

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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. The thought that there is no such duty poses a challenge to our ordinary understanding of political authority and its legitimacy. In what sense can political officials have a right to rule us if there is no duty to obey the laws they lay down? Some thinkers, concluding that a general duty to obey the law cannot be defended, have gone so far as to embrace philosophical anarchism, the view that the state is necessarily illegitimate. Others argue that the duty to obey the law can be grounded on the idea of consent, or on fairness, or on other ideas, such as community.

Rightness as Fairness

Rightness as Fairness
Author: Marcus Arvan
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2016-03-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1137541814

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Rightness as Fairness provides a uniquely fruitful method of 'principled fair negotiation' for resolving applied moral and political issues that requires merging principled debate with real-world negotiation.

The Principle of Fairness and Natural Duties

The Principle of Fairness and Natural Duties
Author: Aaron Finley
Publisher:
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2021
Genre:
ISBN:

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The Principle of Fairness and Natural Duties defends the Principle of Fairness (PoF) as a widely applicable moral principle that can ground obligations to obey the law. The first three chapters develop an interpretation of the PoF by responding to criticisms from A. John Simmons. Simmons argues that, for the principle of fairness to generate obligations, beneficiaries of cooperative public-goods schemes must voluntarily accept the benefits they receive. I argue against Simmons's voluntarism by showing that, even on his view, mere receipt of benefits that are worth their cost can trigger fairness obligations. In a similar vein, Simmons argues that the PoF requires a type of cooperation that we do not see in political communities. Thus, even if his voluntarism argument fails, Simmons can conclude that the PoF cannot ground political obligation. In response, I argue that the cooperation condition can be removed from the PoF entirely. Simmons's arguments defend the broader claim that the PoF applies to few individuals and generates few obligations. In pushing back against this conclusion, I argue that the PoF applies not only to natural agents, such as humans, but also to some artificial agents such as governments and corporations. While the PoF is a robust moral principle, it may not be able to satisfactorily ground political obligation. The last two chapters of this dissertation, therefore, explore the possibility of combining the PoF with natural duties. This combination has been attempted several times in the literature on political obligation. Most often, the PoF is combined with some version of the natural duty to rescue. I argue that this duty can be combined with the PoF, but that the combination cannot ground political obligation. Rather, they ground an obligation to perform one's fair share of global rescues, though each individual has some discretion in choosing which rescue efforts to contribute to. To ground political obligation, the PoF must be combined with the natural duty of justice. The two principles are mutually reinforcing, answering objections that each, alone, cannot overcome. This combination leads to a novel theory of political obligation.

Justification and Legitimacy

Justification and Legitimacy
Author: A. John Simmons
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2001
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780521793650

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This book contains essays by A. John Simmons, perhaps the most innovative and creative of today's political philosophers.

Political Obligation

Political Obligation
Author: Richard E. Flathman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000706842

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"Under what conditions are obedience and disobedience required or justified? To what or whom is obedience or disobedience owed? What are the differences between authority and power and between legitimate and illegitimate government? What is the relationship between having an obligation and having freedom to act? What are the similarities and differences among political, legal, and moral obligations?..." Originally published in 1972, Professor Flathman discusses these crucial issues in political theory in a lucid and stimulating argument. Though mainly concerned to develop his own modified utilitarian standing point he also reviews both the classical and modern literature from Plato and Hobbes to Hare and Rawls. The treatment is philosophical but it is frequently related to practical issues of civil obedience and disobedience and in particular focuses on the relation between law, obligation and social change.