Andrei Marmor: "Authority, Legitimacy and Accountability"
Andrei Marmor (Cornell)
Notes & Changes
Abstract: A minimal level of accountability is a morally necessary condition for the legitimacy of practical authorities. Without accountability to its subjects, a practical authority cannot be legitimate. This is the main thesis I want to establish in this paper, henceforth labeled the accountability condition. A secondary objective is then to show that failure of accountability afflicts not only autocratic or undemocratic regimes; it also creates a serious challenge for the legitimacy of authorities in the international domain. Along the way, I hope to defend two important distinctions, between an authority's legitimacy and its soundness, and between moral accountability and practical accountability. These two distinctions play a crucial role in the argument for the accountability condition
Andrei Marmor is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Philosophy and Law at Cornell Law School. His research interests span philosophy of law, moral, social and political philosophy, and philosophy of language. Marmor published dozens of articles, six book monographs and a number of edited volumes. His most recent book is Foundations of Institutional Reality (OUP 2023). His books and articles also appeared in numerous translations, including in Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, and Italian.
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Andrei Marmor delivers the tenth paper of Hilary Term 2023: "Authority, Legitimacy and Accountability". The seminar will start at 3:00pm in the Goodhart Seminar Room of University College (Logic Lane).
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