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Associative Obligation And Law's Authority, Stephen Utz
Associative Obligation And Law's Authority, Stephen Utz
Stephen Gerard Utz
Most attempts to explicate the authority of law dismiss the possible
analogy of such authority with the less pretentious authority of parents, professional
bodies, academic faculties, and other similar groups. This article explores that
analogy, drawing on discussions of related themes by Ronald Dworkin and others.
If agents are sometimes bound without their consent by such limited authority, the
authority of law, though broader, may have similar features. Law’s claim to peremp-
tory obedience would fail, but the more modest account could still satisfy some long
recognized desiderata.