Criticism of Raz's Conception of Authority essay
See Raz, 'The Problem of Authority: Revisiting the Service Conception', University of Minnesota Law Review, No. 9 2006. That all legal systems are de facto authorities then suggests by logical extension that all legal systems must therefore reproduce and rely on this hierarchical structure must be under tension at a certain fundamental level. Joseph Raz's theory of authority has become influential among moral, political, and legal philosophers. This article will provide an overview and accessible explanation of the theory, guiding those first introduced to it through its theoretical ambitions within the broader issues of authority, and through its intricacies. Raz calls the authority-given reason described in this passage a preventive reason ibid. P. 42. A 'preventive reason', according to him, is a combination of two reasons: 1 a reason for action, that is, for performing the act required by the authority, and 2 a reason that excludes some other reasons. The second of these two types is what Raz mentions: This essay reconsiders Joseph Raz's conception of practical authority in light of his most recent work in legal philosophy. That work suggests that the normal justification thesis should be understood teleologically, as a principle of legitimacy that essentially refers to the perfection of a subject's faculty of reason. This article argues that the use of Joseph Raz's conception of authority to reject philosophical anarchism may be influenced by political anarchism. While philosophical anarchism merely denies the authority of the state, political anarchism claims that anarchism is a better alternative to the state. Raz's theory holds that an institution is an institution. This essay criticizes Joseph Raz's conception of authority based on the condition of its knowability. The condition states that to be justified in following authoritative guidelines, agents must be able to know, that is, to form reliable beliefs, that the authority issuing the guidelines is in fact legitimate..