Methodological Commitments and Foundational Ideas

Abstract This chapter lays out four basic ideas that are foundational to this book. First, it explains why the book operates from a more substantive and controversial set of premises than many others operate from. Doing so makes it possible to make certain arguments that could not otherwise be made, and thus to see more clearly a range of issues that need to be addressed. Second, it explains why the trade-offs between security and liberty must be made in a multidimensional way that is inconsistent with the model of a balance between those two values. If the state wants, say, more security, it has to decide which justification for targeted liberty restrictions to employ, and to consider trade-offs between various permissible ways to get more security. Third, it argues that deontology is best thought of in terms of the structure of types of justifications, not side constraints on otherwise permissible action. Fourth, it explains why so much weight is put on justifications: justifications raise further questions concerning implementation of that which is justified.