The form of coercion matters more than its specific content

Evidence

In comparison with this functional significance of coercion as such, its particular content is of only secondary importance. Senseless coercion may be replaced by sensible coercion, but even the latter has its significance, which is relevant here, only in that which it shares with the former. — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 7373

Categorization

• XREF: This structural-functional view of coercion — content indifferent, form load-bearing — parallels Shapiro’s guardian concept where the institutional role matters more than the specific guardian’s character; relevant to the reader’s Raskolnikov triad analysis where Porfiry as any institutional auditor would serve. — connects to: Hayek defines coercion so narrowly that only self-serving constraint counts — Wendy Brown, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise…, 175; Predictable lawful coercion costs less psychological freedom than unpredictable arbitrary interference — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 423
• DEEPTHINKING: That senseless coercion and justified coercion share an identical functional value — inhibition that surfaces the deep currents — overturns the usual moral hierarchy between legitimate and illegitimate authority.