Will and Political Legitimacy: A Critical Exposition of Social Contract Theory in Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant and Hegel

Will and Political Legitimacy: A Critical Exposition of Social Contract Theory in Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant and Hegel image
ISBN-10:

0674953169

ISBN-13:

9780674953161

Author(s): Riley, Patrick
Edition: n
Released: Nov 01, 1982
Format: Hardcover, 294 pages
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Description:

At the heart of representative government is the question: "What makes government and its agents legitimate authorities?" The notion of consent to a social contract between the citizen and his government is central to this problem. What are the functions of public authority? What are the people's rights in a self-governing and representative state? Patrick Riley presents a comprehensive historical analysis of the meaning of contract theory and a testing of the inherent validity of the ideas of consent and obligation. He uncovers the critical relationship between the act of willing and that of consenting in self-government and shows how "will" relates to political legitimacy. His is the first large-scale study of social contract theory from Hobbes to Rawls that gives "will" the central place it occupies in contractarian thinking.











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