A Theoretical Study On The Principle Of Fairness In The Justification Of Political Obligation

Political obligation is a concept of obligation which has moral properties and contains the specific implication of obedience.The theory of proving the existence of the obligation usually requires the theory of political obligation to satisfy its two major substantive criteria: the characteristics of moral source and content.These two standards explain respectively "why an individual generates obligations" and "why an individual needs to perform obligations in a way of obedience".As one of the classical theories of political obligation,the fairness principle theory tries to break away from the traditional theory of consent,which explains political obligation through the express or implied consent of individuals,and explains political obligation through the "mutuality of restrictions" between individuals.Around the two standards of proving political obligation,the fairness principle theory and other theories of political obligation have launched a fierce debate,among which the most representative dispute is the "Free-riding" problem and the problem of "Justificatory Gap".In response to the "Free-riding" problem,the explanatory path of the fairness principle theory changes from voluntarism to non-voluntarism.Under this premise,the consideration of regional factors in the subject range of political obligation can explain the classic problem under the source characteristics of political obligation,namely the particularity problem.At the same time,in view of the problem of "Justificatory Gap",opponents of the fairness principle theory point out that the fairness principle theory requires that the individual’s fair return is not limited to obeying the law,but there are other alternative ways to fulfill political obligations.However,from the perspective of non-voluntarism interpretation of the fairness principle theory,the political obligation performed in the way of obeying the law is not only a prima facie obligation related to the norms of civic behavior,but also the theory can prove that obeying the law is an impartial form for all the participants in social cooperation to perform the fair obligation,and there are strict limits on the political obligation performed in the way of disobeying.