Fixed Content of Political Obligations

An aspect of political obligations that has received little attention is the means through which their content, i.e., exactly what is required of their bearers, is determined. An adequate moral basis for political obligations must account for this requirement, which is closely linked to the concept of authority, the state's right to substitute its judgement in various areas for the subjects' own. The problems faced by theories of obligation based on gratitude and tacit consent in fixing the content of obligations are examined, while I show how a theory based on the principle of fairness is able to overcome them. As long as a cooperative enterprise supplies public goods that are indispensable to minimally acceptable lives and require 'regulated cooperation' for their supply, it is able to ground obligations with fixed content under the principle of fairness.     

Knowledge and Law in Plato's Laws

Although at one time the nocturnal council, discussed in Book XII of the Laws , was widely viewed as inconsistent with institutions presented in the earlier books, Glenn Morrow apparently solved this problem, in Plato's Cretan City , and his interpretation is accepted by most recent scholars. I revisit the case for inconsistency. As interpreted by Morrow, the nocturnal council is charged with attempting to improve the laws of Magnesia, through application of philosophic knowledge. However, textual evidence demonstrates that, at one point while he was writing the work, Plato was committed to the rule of all but unchanging laws, and to the extent laws were subject to revision, the nocturnal council played no role in this process. Unlike other inconsistencies in the Laws , this is a major conflict. Although we cannot be sure how to explain it, the most likely explanation posits a change of plans on Plato's part, the philosophical implications of which he did not fully work out.     

The Nocturnal Council in Plato's Laws

Serious problems are encountered in integrating the nocturnal council, described in Book XII of the Laws , into the institutional structure presented in Plato's earlier Books. These difficulties are addressed by Glenn Morrow in Plato's Cretan City , and most authorities have accepted Morrow's 'informal view'. This article contends that an alternative account, the 'institutional view', accords more closely with the evidence.