The Nature of Authority

By Kenneth Einar Himma

The Nature of Authority provides a comprehensive theory of the nature of authoritative guidance. It argues that the following claims exhaust the constitutive properties of authoritative tellings: authoritative tellings (1) tell subjects what to do; (2) give rise to reasons to comply; (3) are issued by personal beings and govern the behavior of personal beings; (4) are issued by rationally competent beings and govern the behavior of rationally competent beings; (5) are issued under a claim of right that counts as plausible in virtue of being grounded in a system to which subjects acquiesce as governing their behavior; (6) are issued by beings with the power to impose their will on subjects with respect to what they do; (7) create obligations to comply; and (8) are backed by a threat of detriment that is reasonably contrived to deter enough noncompliance to enable the system to minimally achieve its ends.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1009507818
• ISBN13: 9781009507813
• Release Date: January 2025
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 76 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"