Abstract

HERNANDEZ-ZAMBRANO, David. Authority and Legitimacy: Coming Back to Anarchism. arete [online]. 2019, vol.31, n.1, pp.129-154. ISSN 1016-913X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.18800/arete.201901.005.

This article proposes to reconsider, within the frame of Political Philosophy, the traditional approach to the problem of the moral duty to obey the State. The relevance of some objections coming from philosophical anarchism against this moral duty is stated, by taking some of the criticisms from R.P. Wolff and J.A. Simmons, two of the most important figures in this philosophical branch in recent times, as a departure point. Along these lines, the inexistence of that moral duty is defended and the article advocates for a critic stand towards authority without arriving at the conclusion of political anarchism, which claims that there is an obligation to abolish or fight political authority. We suggest that the question for the legitimacy of the State can only be approached by means of casuistry, from an applied ethics analysis of different impositions from authority.

Keywords : authority; legitimacy; philosophical anarchism; obedience; ethics.

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