This paper offers a non-reductivist account of the requirement of legitimate authority in warfare (RLA). I first advance a distinction between private and public wars. A war is private where individuals defend their private rights with their private means. A war is public where it either aims to defend public rights (e.g., a people’s right to self-governance) or relies on public means (e.g., conscription and taxation). I argue that RLA applies to public war but not private war. A public war waged by a belligerent without legitimate authority involves a form of illegitimate domination of the people. Contra the conventional wisdom that RLA is only an ad bellum principle, I show that RLA is also a vital in bello principle. Relying on the Kantian non-voluntarist account of political authority, I argue that only legitimate states have the right to wage public wars. However, I also contend that RLA is not an absolute requirement, even regarding the justice of public war. Under extremely unfavorable conditions, this requirement may be overridden by weighty considerations in favor of resorting to public war without legitimate authority. In sum, my account of RLA protects ordinary people from illegitimate coercion involved in guerrilla warfare in general yet generates proper permission for responsible, aspiring state founders to secure social justice by coercive means under extraordinary situations.

本文提供了对战争中合法权限（RLA）要求的非还原性说明。我首先要区分私人战争和公共战争。战争是私人的，个人通过私人手段捍卫自己的私人权利。战争是公开的，其目的是捍卫公共权利（例如，人民的自治权）或依靠公共手段（例如，征兵和征税）。我认为RLA适用于公共战争，但不适用于私人战争。交战方在没有合法权限的情况下发动的公开战争涉及对人民的非法统治。与传统的看法相反，RLA只是一个ad bellum原则，我证明了RLA在bello原则上也是至关重要的。依靠康德对政治权威的非自愿主义描述，我认为只有合法国家才有权发动公开战争。但是，我也认为，就公共战争的正义而言，RLA并不是绝对的要求。在极端不利的条件下，可以出于繁重的考虑而推翻这一要求，而无须合法授权就可诉诸公共战争。总而言之，我对RLA的论述可以保护普通民众免受游击战中的非法胁迫，但可以为负责任，有抱负的国家创始人在特殊情况下通过胁迫手段确保社会公正提供适当的许可。为了避免在没有合法权限的情况下诉诸公共战争，可能会出于重重考虑而忽略此要求。总而言之，我对RLA的论述可以保护普通民众免受游击战中的非法胁迫，但可以为负责任，有抱负的国家创始人在特殊情况下通过胁迫手段确保社会公正提供适当的许可。为了避免在没有合法权限的情况下诉诸公共战争，可能会出于重重考虑而忽略此要求。总而言之，我对RLA的论述可以保护普通民众免受游击战中的非法胁迫，但可以为负责任，有抱负的国家创始人在特殊情况下通过胁迫手段确保社会公正提供适当的许可。