Abstract:

In this paper I offer an analysis of the normativity of command and use it to derive a conclusion about the normative significance of institutional structure. I argue that to command another is to take her as falling under one's power. However, to take someone to fall under one's power is to treat her as a means. Kant tells us that we aren't permitted to treat people merely as means. This raises the question under what conditions we don't treat another person merely as a means in commanding her and so act within the boundaries of what is morally permissible. My proposal is that what makes morally permissible command possible is its reference to an institutional background that provides for a distinction between commander and commandee qua occupants of institutional roles on the one hand and qua persons simpliciter on the other.

About Micha Gläser

Micha Gläser is a postdoctoral fellow in political philosophy at the University of Zürich. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Economics from the University of Bayreuth and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University. His research concerns the variety of ways in which normative phenomena in morality, politics, and law exhibit a relational character.

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