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Why does Robert Paul Wolff describe authority as a challenge to moral autonomy?

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The Greek philosopher Plato — Philosophy of law Plato, marble portrait bust copied from an original of the 4th century bce; in the Capitoline Museums, Rome.

Robert Paul Wolff describes political authority as a fundamental challenge to moral autonomy because he views them as inherently paradoxical and mutually exclusive concepts.1

His argument rests on two primary premises:
* Moral Autonomy: Wolff defines this as the fundamental human right and responsibility to exercise one's own reason to determine moral questions and to act in accordance with that reasoned judgment.1
* Legitimate Authority: He defines this as the right to command and the correlative obligation to obey, which requires individuals to act in ways dictated by the authority, even when those commands conflict with their own independent moral judgment.1

Because legitimate authority demands that individuals set aside their own reason in favor of the commands of another, Wolff concludes that the exercise of such authority is a direct violation of an individual's moral autonomy. Consequently, he posits that the existence of a state with legitimate authority is essentially immoral, as it requires citizens to surrender the very capacity for self-governance that defines them as moral agents.1