An Anthropological Introduction of State’s Role in Ethic; Emphasizing a Description of Akrasia

Studying state and its functions from an anthropological viewpoint, which is on the basis of Man’s nature and attributes, might be considered amongst the most accurate research methods in the discipline. According to a group of philosophers, “Akrasia” is an attribute of human behavior that denotes a lack of self-control. It points out a description of human at the level of practice wherein human wisdom is affected by human instincts and desires and accordingly, fails to perform according to his best intellectual judgment. Such a description of influential factors in the human act lays a new groundwork to a challenging research area on foundations and limitations of state’s intervention in ethics and reveals the way through which state’s functions are explained in the light of this proposition. Anthropological approaches toward ethical functions of the state, in spite of their inherent significance, are new approaches the records of which in the literature of legal research are scarce. Building upon philosophical data, the present research is an attempt to notice the significance of the approach and investigate its effects to some extent. Akrasia shows that the theories suggested for ethical functions of the government – Perfectionism, and Impartiality – are deficient due to their failure in considering a part of the process of the human act. Too, Akrasia submits evidence for the least of ethical functions which are necessary for a better collaborative life. This study is not intended to accept or reject perfectionism and impartiality but to show a part of the Man-State relationship according to a description of Akrasia.