Social Security and Moral Principles
Yuichi Shionoya

This article examines the ethical foundations of the welfare state in order to establish a normative basis for evaluating the social security system, which includes pensions, medical care, and public assistance. Moral principles rather than mere Þscal considerations are needed to restructure the welfare state in the developed countries. Four major principles - utilitarianism, contractarianism, libertarianism, and communitarianism - are discussed with regard to their capability to justify the welfare state. It is argued that John Rawls's contractarian theory of justice, based on a veil of ignorance, supports the safety-net conception of the welfare state. From this perspective, the article analyzes the relationship between insurance and assistance principles in the practical design of the welfare system. It concludes that the commonly accepted view of distinguishing between insurance and taxes, both of which are sources of funds for social security, is untenable from a moral standpoint.

The whole documents of the paper above is provided in Portable Document Format (PDF). Acrobat Reader is required to read the document. Acrobat Reader can be downloaded for free by clicking the following icon.

Please click the following icon to view this paper.

Back