POSC 20203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Socratic Method, Teaching Philosophy, De Jure
Document Summary
Should we consent to be governed by nathanson chapter 1 & 2. Our puzzle: governments are considered ethically permitted to do things that no nongovernmental agent may do. At the same time, individuals are thought to have obligations to their governments that they would owe toward no nongovernmental agent, even if nongovernmental agents behaved similarly to a government. (huemer, pg. **de facto vs. de jure authority*: x possesses de facto authority over y insofar as x can reliably induce y to comply with. Parents: someone could have de jure authority even if they lack authority by fact and vice versa; parents to a rebellious teenager, schoolyard bully. If this is true (if we have government and leaders and get benefits or have no government and have chaos) and we have to choose the consequences of government aren"t bad. It requires thinking that life would be bad without government (anarchism.
