Debates among Liberals on social justice have played a major role in current discussion on basic income (or universal benefit). In this paper, the notion is considered on the basis of the “economics of liberal egalitarianism”, for which the anchor point is to be found in Rawls’philosophical works. Although he certainly does not support basic income, he still provides an appropriate general framework to consider it, in particular because of the hierarchy of his principles of justice (I). At the third level of this hierarchy, the interpretation of the “difference principle” appeared controversial when applied to the case of the “Malibu surfers”, an illustration thanks to which Van Parijs was able to defend the unconditional nature of basic income (II). There remains the transition from the philosophy to the economics of basic income, which allows considering it as a precise alternative of negative income tax. At this stage, a rereading of Friedman’s intuition on this topic results in seeing basic income as a “universal tax credit” (3). We conclude with some prospective remarks on a possible implementation of this conception of basic income in the case of liberal democracies and of France as well (4).
Codes JEL: A12, D63, H24.
What is the nature of real (substantive) freedom in our society? Here, I shall present a new theory of liberalism which I call “growth-oriented liberalism.” First, I examine Isaiah Berlin’s concept of positive and negative freedom and raise a fundamental problem regarding freedom: Freedom is a paradoxical ideal. I shall identify two paradoxes: one concerns ordinary freedom and sophisticated values, and the other bears on “liberation” and the apathy of individuals or of groups. How can we overcome these paradoxes? To respond to this question, I shall examine Charles Taylor’s argument on positive liberty (freedom) and extend its implications. The issue is all the deeper as a society is closely knitted as a community, which is a typical trait told about Japan. By going beyond Taylor’s communitarian way of thinking, I shall endeavor to build a new theory of freedom by proposing three principles: the principle of virtue (self-esteem), the principle of generative change, and the principle of differentiation. I argue that the touchstone of free society depends on how we design our social governance based on these principles.