Christopher W. Morris

Before reading this book I was a bit skeptical about its ambitious title, but I was quite pleased with it in the end. The book was more philosophical than I expected, for good and bad. Good, because the author really digs deep on subjects such as state legitimacy and justice and develops original viewpoints with a convincing acumen. Bad, because the discussion is so far separated from real world states that the word ”modern” in the title could just as well be replaced with ”ideal”.

The book starts with a slightly superficial historical chapter where the author fast-forwards past various state-like political organizations known from European history. The author then discusses anarchy as a putative counterpoint to the state. In my opinion, he takes it too far when he discusses game theoretical models of anarchical society. Game theory does not deserve any place in a book about the state.

He fortunately makes up for the excessive theoretic gameplay in the chapters on legitimacy, sovereignty, and practical justification of states, all of which are much more informative. These discussions compare quite favorably to others that I’ve read on the same subjects. The author draws a lot of inspiration from Thomas Hobbes, but he does it in fluid style without getting stuck in interpretive details.

I wish the author had written a bit more about the functions and alternative institutions of government, but I understand that it goes beyond the scope of a philosophical work. All in all I would recommend this book to readers interested in classical and modern philosophy of the state, but not so much to readers looking for theoretical accounts of modern state institutions.… (meer)