Contractarianism and Legitimacy

The dissertation explores the relation between the varieties of contractarianism and legitimate political authority. The first chapter defines the idea of legitimacy and responds to two objections to the project. The second chapter examines the idea of a social contract and defends its use as the proper heuristic for understanding political authority. Drawing on the link between group membership and obligation, the third chapter develops an account of actual contractarianism which highlights the connection between actual popular support and stability. The fourth chapter, appealing to recent work by Scanlon and Nagel, explores the implications of the idea of hypothetical unanimity for thinking about morally rightful political institutions. The final chapter articulates the uneasy relation between popular support and ideal justice, and discusses the role played by judgment in understanding legitimacy.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Philosophy

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Janowski, James Dale

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jeff McMahan

• Political Science, General

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9717287

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/87605