Government is Good for You

Abstract

There is an argument that government cannot be good for individuals because it causes them to act through fear of punishment, hence for non-moral reasons. The obvious responses of accepting the conclusion (anarchism) and denying the premiss about moral motivation (utilitarianism) are first considered. Then the strategy of accepting the premiss but denying the conclusion is pursued at greater length. Some arguments of T. H. Green and B. Bosanquet which attempt to do this are considered before an independent resolution is proposed.