Virtue, arbitrariness, and the rule of law

Michael Sevel

Chapter 7 in Virtues and the Rule of Law, 2026, pp 125-143 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines whether the rule of law can be exhaustively understood in terms of individual virtues: as the qualities of character that enable a person to exercise power well. Likely it cannot, though investigating the rule of law from the perspective of personal virtue produces unexpected insights and prompts unexpected questions. Drawing on the virtue-ethical theory of Joseph Raz, an influential theorist of the rule of law who never fully connected the two themes in his own philosophy, I explore how virtuous power-holders may reliably avoid the arbitrary exercise of power, the traditional antithesis of the rule of law. An immediate obstacle to that line of thought is the unavoidable arbitrariness of practical choice faced by those power-holders, given that reasons often underdetermine the actions they justify. A better understanding of the role of the individual will, as shaped by virtue, in wielding power puts into proper perspective the limits of regarding the rule of law simply as exercising power well.

Keywords: Rule of Law; Virtue; Joseph Raz; Reasons For Action; Arbitrariness; Power Holders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035398072
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