ABSTRACT
The account set out in the previous chapter suggests that the function of a legal system is to facilitate cooperation, by requiring that disputes to which the need for cooperation gives rise be resolved by adjudication in accordance with law using force or coercion to secure compliance where that is necessary. We have also argued that, because the use of force to accomplish individual or group objectives is potentially both immoral and anti-moral, the use of force to obtain compliance with the law is justifiable only where its use reduces recourse to what would otherwise be morally justifiable uses of force.
