Mad Prince, Usurper, and the Riddle of Missing Supreme Power

Text by professor Timo Airaksinen

We must be loyal to a prince because God says so (PO 1), and to be loyal entails obedience to his laws and commands. Suppose the prince's laws are unjust, although they are, as laws, authoritative: "To speak of a conditioned, limited loyalty […] is a most effectual means to loosen the band of civil society. (PO 24). And to call a law unjust is an example of a "conditioned, limited loyalty," or if it is not, I do not know what is. Under a common law system, to say a law is unjust is to assume the role of a judge, which one is not authorized to do. Therefore, to obey is to be loyal and unjust, but not to obey means rebellion. It is difficult to see what loyalty to a bad prince entails: his laws are not divine; it is an exaggeration to argue that they are because they can be very human, problematic, cruel, and unjust. Berkeley says the prince's heart is in the hands of God and we only may "sit still and pray for better times." (PO 47).