Justification and Legitimacy Essays on Rights and Obligations [Hardcover]

This book contains essays by A. John Simmons, perhaps the most innovative and creative of today's political philosophers.The characteristic features of clear argumentation and careful scholarship that have been hallmarks of the philosophy of A. John Simmons are everywhere evident in this collection. The essays focus on the problems of political obligation and state legitimacy as well as on historical theories of property and justice. Cumulatively the collection presents a distinctive social and political philosophy, exploring the nature of our most fundamental rights and obligations, and displaying the power and plausibility of Lockean ideal theory.The characteristic features of clear argumentation and careful scholarship that have been hallmarks of the philosophy of A. John Simmons are everywhere evident in this collection. The essays focus on the problems of political obligation and state legitimacy as well as on historical theories of property and justice. Cumulatively the collection presents a distinctive social and political philosophy, exploring the nature of our most fundamental rights and obligations, and displaying the power and plausibility of Lockean ideal theory.The characteristic features of clear argumentation and careful scholarship that have been hallmarks of the philosophy of A. John Simmons are everywhere evident in this collection. The essays focus on the problems of political obligation and state legitimacy as well as on historical theories of property and justice. Cumulatively the collection presents a distinctive social and political philosophy, exploring the nature of our most fundamental rights and obligations, and displaying the power and plausibility of Lockean ideal theory.Introduction; 1. The principle of fair play; 2. Fair play and political obligation: twenty years later; 3. The obligations of citizens and the justification of conscription; 4. Associative political obligations; 5. External justifications and institutional roles; 6. Pló5