AAP 2026 CONFERENCE

A concept widely employed in legal and political contexts, ‘legitimacy’ can seem less applicable to everyday human activities. I argue this is a profound mistake. Many of the same factors that drive recourse to legitimacy in legal and political contexts also apply in—and fundamentally shape—everyday interpersonal, relational and organisational life. These factors include moral pluralism, epistemic fallibilism, policy ambiguity, collective action challenges, the significance of established expectations and social norms, and worries about moral authority. Moreover, many of the same devices that work at the political level to deliver legitimacy—procedural fairness, deliberative justice, due process, transparency, tolerance, consent, pro tem decisions—can be (and often are) used mutatis mutandis to achieve acceptance in interpersonal, relational and organisational contexts. Being blind to the significance of legitimacy in ordinary life sets the stage for serious moral mistakes, in particular, mistakes driven by a lack of reciprocal respect for others as ethical and epistemic agents.