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Is authority in its "basic structure" a triadic relation between the bearer, the subject, and the domain of authority (as Bochenski holds); or is it, rather, a quadratic relation between the bearer, the subject, and the domain of authority and the reason for it (as De George suggests -- more suggests—more clearly, however, in "The Nature and Function of Epistemic Authority" than in The Nature and Limits of Authority!)?

Perhaps in the case of de facto authority, the basic structure of authority may seem to be merely triadic. But if it is correct, as I have argued, that "de facto authority presupposes de jure authority," in that no one can either purport to be or to have authority or be accepted as such without making or implying the claim that the authority is valid, then the fourth factor that I speak of as the reason for authority can hardly be ignored.unmigrated-wiki-markup

I incline, then, to share De George's view that "\[a\]ll authority is ... essentially a relation among a bearer, a subject, and a field, _in virtue of a particular quality, attribute, or context_. This latter component supplies the justification for the legitimate use of authority, and it varies from type to type. There is no one thing or quality which makes authority legitimate, and to search for any such component is to search in vain. The core relation of authority can be put formally by saying that 'A is an authority for B over field C in virtue of D' (or in some contexts authority is the right or power of A to do B with respect to some field C in virtue of D)" ("The Nature and Function of Epistemic Authority": 77; italics added).

(It's clear enough, I take it, that De George's phrase "in virtue of" could be.replaced with "because of," or "by reason of," without in any way changing what he means to say. In fact, at least one dictionary I consulted defines "by or in virtue of' with "because of' and "by reason of. ")

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