Samaritanism and Political Obligation

FAIN: FB-50312-04

Christopher Heath Wellman
Washington University (Atlanta, GA 30303-3011)

The goal of this study is to develop and defend an original account of our duty to obey the law. Political obligation has been a significant and enduring problem for political philosophers because we place a premium upon individual liberty, and states restrict this liberty with coercive laws. A central project for political theorists, then, is to explain why the state is justified in infringing upon its citizens' liberty and why citizens are morally bound to comply with these legal commands. Despite the centrality of this issue, no one has yet offered a satisfactory account of political obligation. I propose to write a book which seeks to fill this lacuna. First I will construct a samaritan justification for the state's right to rule all those within its territorial boundaries, and then I will explain our obligation to obey the law. With these central accounts in place, I will address more specific issues, including our special obligations concerning voting, military service, and redistribution among compatriots.

Associated Products

Is There a Duty to Obey the Law? (Book)
Title: Is There a Duty to Obey the Law?
Author: A. John Simmons
Author: Christopher Heath Wellman
Abstract: The central question in political philosophy is whether political states have the right to coerce their constituents and whether citizens have a moral duty to obey the commands of their state. Christopher Heath Wellman and A. John Simmons defend opposing answers to this question. Wellman bases his argument on samaritan obligations to perform easy rescues, arguing that each of us has a moral duty to obey the law as his or her fair share of the communal samaritan chore of rescuing our compatriots from the perils of the state of nature. Simmons counters that this and all other attempts to explain our duty to obey the law fail. Concentrating especially on refuting Natural Duty accounts of the duty to obey, he ultimately defends the view that there is no strong moral presumption in favor of obedience to or compliance with any existing state.
Year: 2005
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/is-there-a-duty-to-obey-the-law/oclc/57193308&referer=brief_results
Type: Multi-author monograph
ISBN: 0-521-83097-4

Debating the Ethics of Immigration: Is there a Right to Exclude? (Book)
Title: Debating the Ethics of Immigration: Is there a Right to Exclude?
Author: Wellman, Christopher Heath
Year: 2011
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=9780199731725
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry
Publisher: Oxford: Oxford University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780199731725

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