Summary of Michael Huemer's The Problem of Political Authority

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The story of the villager who kidnapped and locked up vandals in his basement to prevent crime is a short political story that illustrates the difference between a government and a non-government person. Most people support the government’s imprisonment of criminals, feel obligated to pay their taxes, and consider punishment of tax evaders both desirable and within the rights of the state.

#2 We have a double standard when it comes to the ethical acceptability of government actions versus those of nongovernmental agents. We consider it ethical for governments to do things that we would consider unethical if done by nongovernmental agents.

#3 The distinction between political legitimacy and political obligation is what I call political authority. Political authority is the moral property in virtue of which governments may coerce people in certain ways not permitted to anyone else and in which citizens must obey their governments even when they would not be obligated to obey anyone else.

#4 Those who believe in political authority do not believe that all governments have it. They may believe that certain governments have a limited sphere of authority.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822500280

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Insights on Michael Huemer's The Problem of Political Authority

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The story of the villager who kidnapped and locked up vandals in his basement to prevent crime is a short political story that illustrates the difference between a government and a non-government person. Most people support the government’s imprisonment of criminals, feel obligated to pay their taxes, and consider punishment of tax evaders both desirable and within the rights of the state.

#2

We have a double standard when it comes to the ethical acceptability of government actions versus those of nongovernmental agents. We consider it ethical for governments to do things that we would consider unethical if done by nongovernmental agents.

#3

The distinction between political legitimacy and political obligation is what I call political authority. Political authority is the moral property in virtue of which governments may coerce people in certain ways not permitted to anyone else and in which citizens must obey their governments even when they would not be obligated to obey anyone else.

#4

Those who believe in political authority do not believe that all governments have it. They may believe that certain governments have a limited sphere of authority.

#5

The difference between the government and the vigilante is that the former has been authorized by society, while the latter has not. Some account of authority is needed to explain the difference between the two.

#6

The need for an account of political legitimacy arises from the moral significance of coercion and the coercive nature of government. When the state makes a law, the law generally carries with it a punishment to be imposed upon violators.

#7

The legal system is based on intentional, harmful coercion. To justify a law, one must justify the imposition of that law on the population through a threat of harm, including the coercive imposition of actual harm on those who are caught violating the law.

#8

Modern states need an account of political legitimacy because they commonly coerce and harm individuals for reasons that would be viewed as inadequate for any nongovernmental agent. The government is the only entity with the authority to decide whether to go to war.

#9

The five principles of political authority are generality, particularity, content-independence, comprehensiveness, and supremacy. The state’s authority applies to its citizens generally, and the great majority of citizens have political obligations.

#10

The idea of political obligation does not entail that the government’s commanding something is by itself sufficient for one to have an obligation to do that thing. Those who believe in authority may hold that there are further conditions for the government’s commands to be binding.

#11

The first part of the book is an exercise in the application of moral philosophy to politics. I will start from moral claims that are, initially, relatively uncontroversial. I will then attempt to reason from these premises to conclusions about the contested questions that are of interest.

#12

I believe that we have some moral knowledge, and that our most widely shared ethical judgments are instances of such knowledge. I also believe that some political beliefs are fundamentally wrong, and that no one has the right to rule over others.

#13

Those who begin with an intuition that some states have authority may be brought to give up that intuition if it turns out that the belief in political authority is incompatible with common sense moral beliefs.

#14

The central thesis of the first part of this book is that political authority is a moral illusion. I argue that the leading philosophical accounts of authority are rationalizations for attitudes with nonrational sources. I suggest that society can function and flourish without a general acceptance of authority.

#15

The dominant view today is that we do not have political obligations. However, this is not the case for all philosophers. The majority of philosophers today agree that we do not have political obligations, but they do not yet agree that we do not have political legitimacy.

#16

The common sense beliefs of the majority of people are not always correct. For example, they believe that all governments have