The Duty to Obey the Law - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 084769254X ISBN 13: 9780847692545

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1999

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

William A. Edmundson is professor at Georgia State University College of Law. He is the author of Three Anarchical Fallacies: An Essay on Political Authority (1998, Cambridge University Press).

Review:

This volume brings together the most important recent work on the question of political obligation. It is an excellent collection of the central work in the field... (Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy)

Edmundson's anthology is full of well-selected readings that define the range of the problem in its most current incarnation. His contributions and summaries are insightful and will promote valuable discussion. (Philosophy in Review)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 084769254X
• ISBN 13: 9780847692545
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 362
• Editor: Edmundson William A.