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Limits on Political Authority

Limits on Political Authority.

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Limits on Political Authority

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  1. Limits on Political Authority • Morality: laws obligate only if they are moral, that is, if they are consistent with reason or the natural law (Stoics). Civil disobedience is permitted if laws violate the common good, are based on illegitimate authority, distribute burdens inequitably, or challenge religious beliefs/conscience (Aquinas) • Response: laws are obligating not because they are moral but simply because they are enacted by a legitimate authority (Positivism)

  2. Limits on Political Authority (continued) • Liberty: laws should respect freedom by regulating only actions that harm others. Where behavior is merely offensive, only social pressure is permitted. Where self-improvement or the development of personal preference or conscience is concerned, only persuasion is permitted (J. S. Mill) • Objection: the lines between public and private, or between harmful, offensive, and personal preference, are difficult to identify

  3. Limits on Political Authority (continued) • Human rights: laws are binding only if they protect justified claims and acknowledge the duties of others to respect those claims • Legal rights are based on civil laws; moral or human rights are based on nature • Negative rights (e.g., to privacy) presume that individuals should be allowed to act without interference; positive rights (e.g., to education or health care) presume that society has obligations to help individuals

  4. Limits on Political Authority (continued) • International relations: nations are regulated • only by force or power (political realism) • Objection: this makes morality irrelevant • by principles of peace (pacifism) • Objection: pacifism is unworkable practically • by principles of self-defense (just war) • Objection: excuses for war = justifications

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