Three Anarchical Fallacies: An Essay on Political
Authority
Reviews
"An original and valuable contribution to contemporary debates about state legitimacy and the relation of morality to law. Edmundson's arguments are throughout imaginative and engaging...." —A. John Simmons, from the dust jacket.
"No bare synopsis of the argument can do justice to Edmundson's
profundity, the care and depth of his reasoning, and the helpfulness of his
engagement with the thought of contemporary scholars and philosophers long
deceased.... A marvelous book." —Patrick Coby, in Choice.
"Throughout, Edmundson's discussion is skillful
and inventive....He has interesting things to say about the relationship
between morality and law and succeeds in calling into question several popular
views. But as a contribution to our understanding of political authority,
the work's value is limited by oddness of focus...."
—George Klosko, in The Review of
Politics.
"Edmundson sets an almost unprecedented standard of brevity, clarity and
profundity. Here is a monograph which in less than two-hundred pages tackles
some of the most intricate questions of state legitimacy—identifies
salient issues, surveys theoretical background, does not shirk detailed
analyses, and reaches important conclusions—and it does all this in a
user-friendly textbook style that hardly presupposes any prior knowledge of the
subject....Only one caveat about Edmundson’s
dense but lucid style: There is no use trying to bring a highlighting pen to
his book to mark main points. This is a book of main points, pruned of so much
as one superfluous paragraph or frivolous digression. If only for Edmundson’s exceptional expository skills—a
much-neglected virtue in philosophical writing—his book would deserve a
wide readership. However, that is by no means its only virtue. Indeed, this
work ranks, in my view, among the most important contributions to its
“discursive field” (to use fashionable jargon that Edmundson would
surely avoid) that has appeared in years...."
—Kristjan Kristjansson,
in Mind.
"The 'fallacies' in the title are three assumptions which stand as
obstacles to finding a successful account of state legitimacy. They are
shared by a broad range of political theorists, but notably favor the position
of the philosophical anarchist.... Edmundson examines these
assumption in impressive detail, deploying interesting, if
controversial, arguments for rejecting them. If his position is true, it
is not an immediate refutation of the anarchist, but it would succeed in
redrawing the terms of the debate. Whether or not one is convinced by
this ultimate aim, the book nevertheless poses a challenge to those interested
in justifying these ubiquitous assumptions." —Saladin Meckled-Garcia, in Political Studies.
"The three anarchical fallacies of Edmundson's
title involve the relationship of law to, respectively, legitimacy, coercion,
and morality...To each of these 'fallacies' Edmundson devotes three chapters of
close and scrupulous analysis. This analysis will not convince every
reader that he has indeed exposed three widespread fallacies...I doubt that he
succeeds in the first case...but the subtlety of [his] arguments and the
richness of his insights are nonetheless remarkable. Agree with him or
not, anyone concerned with political authority, political obligation, and the
relationship of law to morality will profit from a reading of Three
Anarchical Fallacies. But one will have to read as carefully as
Edmundson writes. The book abounds with helpful examples, including
several drawn from legal cases, but hardly a word is wasted in exposition as
argument follows argument....Despite the modesty of his aims, in sum, Edmundson
has done more than point out the flawed reasoning that contributes to 'a
fundamental distrust of state power.' He has also pointed the way to a
positive argument for the legitimacy of the state. If he has not
proceeded far along this path in Three Anarchical Fallacies, we should
be grateful that he has cleared away so much of the underbrush and overgrowth
that have obscured it—and hopeful that he will proceed farther in the
future." —Richard Dagger, in Law and
Philosophy.
An "impressive combination of clarity, care, precision, focus, detail, and conciseness." —Robert F. Ladenson, in Ethics.
"The deep-rooted [philosophical] anarchism in the
“Edmundson's work on legitimacy & the obligation to obey the law is extraordinary--carefully done and written with a deep and broad understanding of the literature, both historical and contemporary. ‘Highly recommended’ is just not enthusiastic enough. ─Laurence B. Solum, on his Legal Theory Blog.