Fiduciary Authority and the Service Conception

Abstract

Abstract Under Joseph Raz’s service conception of authority, the normal justification thesis asserts that A is an authority for B if B is likely to comply better with reason by treating A’s directives as authoritative rather than by acting on her own judgment. Scholars have criticized Raz’s theory on the grounds that it cannot account for the special standing of authorities to impose duties. This chapter argues that the challenge can be met if Raz’s theory is located within an interpersonal fiduciary framework. Within this framework, the putative authority has a fiduciary duty to issue directives that respect the reasons that warrant her possession of a directive-giving moral power. The authority’s duty explains her authority because that duty binds her to exercise power in a way that reflects the reasons for which she has it in the first place.