ABSTRACT
The task of clarifying the nature of government is much more complicated, however, than that of clarifying the nature of morality. Along with the increase in the functions of the government goes an increase in its strength. The power of the government can be experienced in almost every area of society and it is not surprising if in the face of this vast elemental strength the individual may at times feel trapped and helpless. Indeed, the criticism that the impersonal conception excludes government from the sphere of morality is only a special case of the more general criticism that it excludes government from the sphere of individual action. The personal action theory states that to speak of ‘government’ is to use a convenient fiction; to use the term ‘government’ is to use a kind of abbreviation to refer to the individual persons who make up a government.
