PHIL 2770 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Forego, Vigilante, Voluntaryism

• School: University of Virginia
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 2770
• Professor: A.John Simmons

Document Summary

Internally, states are legitimate if they possess the right to rule those they attempt to govern. State rights: over subjects, against aliens, geographical territory, you can"t sell private property to those unencumbered by the same law (can"t sell house to state of china) Nothing can claim to be a state until exercising at least a modest versions of these kinds of rights. Locke"s answer is a good one: state"s territory is composed of individual properties: but this is completely not how it actually is today, but the account does provide a starting point and direction for the theory. International law largely turns a blind eye to fundamental questions about territorial moral legitimacy. Two possible non-historical arguments for moral legitimacy for territorial claims (141): efficient delivery: states require geographical territories with continuous fixed boundaries in order to efficiently deliver to their subject the goods they require.