ABSTRACT
The special character of obligations becomes clear in the case of obligations created by promises, and so people shall take such obligations as paradigmatic of obligations in general, although it will be assumed that there are other kinds of obligation to be considered as well. This chapter discusses six formal features of obligations in general and illustrates this analysis by showing how these features apply in playing a game. It describes whether or not the concept of obligation so delineated, and in particular as it is applied to playing a game, is relevant to the issues of obedience to the political and legal order. Political obligation will be used for a variety of obligation, namely, the obligation to obey the political authorities and to obey the law of the land. Obligations are, in a sense, superadded to the ordinary requirements of morality. This is because they characteristically impose new and special requirements on particular persons in particular circumstances.
