Abstract

In this work, the author attempts to answer two questions on the issue of coercion: first, what coercion is; and second, whether coercion is justifiable as a means of social control, and, if so, on what ground. The author will provide a descriptive definition to the concept of coercion by establishing the necessary and sufficient conditions under which an act constitutes coercion, and distinguish it from ideas between coercion and which there has not been much clear conceptual distinction. In addition, against the backdrop of the liberal commitment to individual liberty and rights, the author will make an effort at justifying coercion through uncovering an important link between coercion and the law. The author will argue that coercion is an innate function of the law, therefore, the law is necessarily coercive