Is There a Moral Duty to Obey the Law?

Bibliographic Data

ID23158389
AuthorsJohn Hasnas (0000-0001-9782-0977, Georgetown University, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume30
Issue1-2
Pages450-479
Publication date2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Philosophy and Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0265-0525 • E-ISSN: 1471-6437
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0265052513000216
OpenAlexW2129488911
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

This essay argues that there can be a duty to obey the law when it is produced by the evolutionary forces at work in the customary and common law. Human beings' inherent epistemic limitations mean that they must rely on the trial and error learning built into the common law process to discover rules that facilitate peaceful social interaction. Hence, a duty to obey the law produced by the common law process can arise from individuals' natural duty to promote social peace. This argument cannot be extended to ground political obligation. It does not give rise to a duty to obey the state.

Argument (complex analysis) · Duty · Law and economics · Moral obligation · Natural law · Obligation · Physics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Work (physics) · Free Will and Agency · Law · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Political Philosophy and Ethics

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