The proper relationship between the individual and the wider political community is an issue which is both practically important and philosophically perplexing. Do we have an obligation to obey our government? If so, what is the basis of this obligation and what are its limits? These are questions which lie at the heart of the problem of political obligation.
Historically, political philosophers have offered many and various answers to these questions. Some have thought that political obligation must be based on a voluntary undertaking to obey; others have argued that it derives from a general requirement to promote the common good or maximise well-being; and still others that it follows from a duty of fairness or justice. By contrast, anarchists have mostly denied that we have any such obligations to the polity at all.
This book assesses the validity of these claims and the arguments for them. It seeks to show that all the traditional accounts of political obligation, including the anarchist denial of it, are in various ways unsatisfactory. Instead, it defends an account of political obligation which gives particular prominence to what it involved in being a member of a political community and challenges the reader to think through what it is to have a political identity as a member of a particular society, and the implications of this for how one should act.
Table of contents:
1: INTRODUCTION
Political Obligation as a Problem
One Problem or Many?
Political Philosophy
Justifying Political Obligation
2: VOLUNTARIST THEORIES
Voluntarism and Political Obligation
Consent
Political Obligation and Consent
The Limits of Voluntarism
3: TELEOLOGICAL THEORIES
The Structure and Forms of Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism and Political Obligation
Hare's Utilitarian Account of Political Obligation
Political Obligation and the Common Good
4: DEONTOLOGICAL THEORIES
Hypothetical Consent
Fair-Play and Political Obligation
Natural Duty, Political Obligation and Gratitude
Rawls' Duty to Uphold Just Institutions
5: ANARCHISM: POLITICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL
Anarchism and Political Obligation
Individualist Anarchism
Communal Anarchism
Philsophical Anarchism
Philosophical Anarchism and the Polity
6: POLITICAL OBLIGATION RECONSIDERED
The Conceptual Argument
Political Obligation and the Family
Identity and Political Obligation
Membership and Political Obligation
Law, Government and Political Obligation
Epitaph for Political Obligation?
7: CONCLUSION
Guide to Further Reading
Bibliography
Index
Historically, political philosophers have offered many and various answers to these questions. Some have thought that political obligation must be based on a voluntary undertaking to obey; others have argued that it derives from a general requirement to promote the common good or maximise well-being; and still others that it follows from a duty of fairness or justice. By contrast, anarchists have mostly denied that we have any such obligations to the polity at all.
This book assesses the validity of these claims and the arguments for them. It seeks to show that all the traditional accounts of political obligation, including the anarchist denial of it, are in various ways unsatisfactory. Instead, it defends an account of political obligation which gives particular prominence to what it involved in being a member of a political community and challenges the reader to think through what it is to have a political identity as a member of a particular society, and the implications of this for how one should act.
Table of contents:
1: INTRODUCTION
Political Obligation as a Problem
One Problem or Many?
Political Philosophy
Justifying Political Obligation
2: VOLUNTARIST THEORIES
Voluntarism and Political Obligation
Consent
Political Obligation and Consent
The Limits of Voluntarism
3: TELEOLOGICAL THEORIES
The Structure and Forms of Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism and Political Obligation
Hare's Utilitarian Account of Political Obligation
Political Obligation and the Common Good
4: DEONTOLOGICAL THEORIES
Hypothetical Consent
Fair-Play and Political Obligation
Natural Duty, Political Obligation and Gratitude
Rawls' Duty to Uphold Just Institutions
5: ANARCHISM: POLITICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL
Anarchism and Political Obligation
Individualist Anarchism
Communal Anarchism
Philsophical Anarchism
Philosophical Anarchism and the Polity
6: POLITICAL OBLIGATION RECONSIDERED
The Conceptual Argument
Political Obligation and the Family
Identity and Political Obligation
Membership and Political Obligation
Law, Government and Political Obligation
Epitaph for Political Obligation?
7: CONCLUSION
Guide to Further Reading
Bibliography
Index