Legitimate is a power when it is justified by an ethical or metaphysical principle that has been accepted by a society.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Power is legitimate only when it is justified by ethical or metaphysical principles accepted by the society.
- In plain terms
- Authority is valid only when society accepts its moral reasons.
- What can you take from it?
- Legitimacy depends on shared societal acceptance of moral principles.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What makes power legitimate?
- Can ethics justify authority?
Another view
It assumes society can uniformly accept abstract metaphysical principles.
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