Authority (SEP)
Large social groups face many grave problems, such as violence, injustice, disorder, public bads, and war, that require a coordinated collective response. Because disagreement about the nature of and solutions to these problems is pervasive, mounting any such response is difficult in the absence of an authority empowered to issue and enforce coordinating directives. The basic question of political authority asks whether anyone has the right to impose such directives, and if so, under what conditions.
Some anarchist philosophers have thought that political authority is neither necessary nor sufficient for solving the social problems above. Indeed, some think that political authority is counterproductive because it debars better strategies for solving them (e.g. Marx and Engels 1846 [1972: 146–202] and Huemer 2012). This entry surveys the main frameworks that philosophers have developed in defense of a positive, non-anarchistic answer to the basic question of political authority. To this end, we discuss different concepts of the political authority’s right to impose directives on others (part 1) as well as different conceptions of who has the right and how it is grounded (part 2). In a supplement on legitimate political authority in international institutions, we highlight distinctive issues that arise when the basic question of political authority is posed at levels beyond the nation-state.
Read the rest here: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/authority/
Chatbot
“Authority” can mean different things depending on context, but in philosophy and political theory it usually has a precise structure.
At its core, authority is the legitimate right to command, decide, or judge — and the corresponding obligation of others to comply.
Three distinctions clarify the concept.
First, authority is not the same as power. Power is the ability to get someone to do something, whether they want to or not. Authority implies legitimacy. If someone obeys because they recognize a right to command, that is authority. If they obey because they fear violence, that is mere power.
Second, there is practical authority versus theoretical (or epistemic) authority.
Practical authority concerns action: a government issuing laws, a judge passing sentence, a foreman directing workers.
Epistemic authority concerns knowledge: a doctor on medical matters, a physicist on quantum theory. In this case, authority rests on expertise, not coercion.
Third, authority can be personal or institutional. A person may have authority because of expertise or charisma. An institution may have authority because it is embedded in a recognized legal or moral system.
Philosophically, the key problem is justification. Why should anyone obey? Major answers include:
– Consent: authority is legitimate if people have agreed to it (social contract theory).
– Expertise: authority is justified when it tracks truth or competence (epistemic authority).
– Moral order: authority reflects a deeper moral structure (classical and religious views).
– Pragmatic necessity: coordination requires centralized decision-making.
There is also a strong skeptical tradition. Thinkers like Nietzsche and some anarchists argue that what we call authority is often disguised power. Others, like Hannah Arendt, distinguish sharply between authority, violence, and persuasion, arguing that when authority collapses, violence tends to replace it.
So the central philosophical question is not whether authority exists — it clearly does — but when it is legitimate.
Wikipedia
Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, authority may be practiced by legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, each of which has authority and is an authority. The term “authority” has multiple nuances and distinctions within various academic fields ranging from sociology to political science.
The term authority identifies the political legitimacy, which grants and justifies rulers’ right to exercise the power of government; and the term power identifies the ability to accomplish an authorized goal, either by compliance or by obedience; hence, authority is the power to make decisions and the legitimacy to make such legal decisions and order their execution.
Read the rest here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authority
Nochrisis 