O PROBLEMA DA LEGITIMIDADE DA AUTORIDADE POLÍTICA, OU SOBRE O QUE DIFERENCIA O ESTADO DA MAFIA

Abstract

This paper suggest that the claim for legitimate authority distinguishes a State from a sophisticated mafia. Then, we proceeded to the analysis of the meaning of such a claim, what leads us to the paradox denounced by the “philosophical anarchism”, according to which no authority may be legitimate, since obedience to any authority would necessarily entail the surrender of practical reason. Thus, we sketch a formal theory of practical reason intended to solve the anarchist paradox. Finally, we examine whether there may be an argument in favor of political authority that meet the formal conditions of legitimacy established by that theory.