Rights, Consent, and Legitimacy

Abstract

Abstract This chapter tackles a problem for any instrumentalist view that endorses liberal premises and denies that governments possess authority: it seems that we either need to deny that individuals possess strong moral rights or accept that consent is necessary for legitimacy. The chapter rejects various attempts to escape the dilemma, such as arguing that people have forfeited their rights, claiming that infringing rights is necessary to save people, or weakening rights by making them infringeable. Instead, the chapter proposes a solution in terms of a ‘pre-established harmony’ that allows for legitimacy without consent while recognizing strong, moral individual rights.