Can a constitution command moral authority over individuals who did not explicitly consent to abide by it? The American lawyer and proto-libertarian Lysander Spooner (1808-87) argued that the U.S. Constitution is a contract that is morally binding only on those who approved of it during its ratification.

Gerard Casey is a member of the School of Philosophy at University College Dublin.
Civil Liberties and Human RightsFreedomGovernment and PoliticsLaw and LibertyPhilosophy and Religion
Other Independent Review articles by Gerard Casey
Summer 2016 Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life