Philippe Van Parijs
Encyclopedia
Basic income
A basic income guarantee is a proposed system of social security, that regularly provides each citizen with a sum of money. In contrast to income redistribution between nations themselves, the phrase basic income defines payments to individuals rather than households, groups, or nations, in order...
concept.
Education
Philippe Van Parijs studied philosophy, law, political economy, sociology and linguistics at the Facultés universitaires Saint-LouisFacultés universitaires Saint-Louis
The Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis in Brussels, Belgium is a public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French...
(Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
) and the Université catholique de Louvain
Université catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain, sometimes known, especially in Belgium, as UCL, is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve and in Brussels...
, Oxford, Bielefeld
Bielefeld University
Bielefeld University is a university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization and teaching than the established universities...
and California
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
(Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
). He holds doctorates in the social sciences (Louvain, 1977) and in philosophy (Oxford, 1980).
Career
He is professor at the Faculty of economic, social and political sciences of the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), where he directs the Hoover ChairHoover Chair
The Hoover Chair , was established at the Universite Catholique de Louvain by Pierre Macq in 1991. This was made possible by a generous donation from the Hoover Foundation for university development. Notable lecturers include Prof...
of economic and social ethics since its creation in 1991. He has also been a Visiting Professor at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's Department of Philosophy since 2004, and at the Higher Institute of Philosophy
Higher Institute of Philosophy
The Higher Institute of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Leuven was founded in 1889 by Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier to be a beacon of Neo-Thomist philosophy...
of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
since 2006.
He has also held visiting positions at the Universities of Amsterdam, Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
, Siena
University of Siena
The University of Siena in Siena, Tuscany is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called Studium Senese, the University of Siena was founded in 1240. The University has around 20,000 students, nearly half of Siena's total population of around 54,000...
, Québec
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
(Montréal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
), Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
(Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
), Maine
University of Maine
The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...
(Orono) and Aix-Marseille, the European University Institute
European University Institute
The European University Institute ' in Florence is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral teaching and research institute established by European Union member states to contribute to cultural and scientific development in the social sciences, in a European perspective...
(Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
), the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
(Moscow), the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro is one of the largest federal universities of Brazil, where public universities comprise the majority of the best and most qualified institutions...
, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , established in 1977, is the premier and highest academic research organization in the fields of philosophy and social sciences as well as a national center for comprehensive studies in the People's Republic of China. It was described by Foreign Policy...
(Beijing), the Catholic Faculties of Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
(Congo), All Souls College
All Souls College, Oxford
The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford or All Souls College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England....
(Oxford), Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Sciences Po
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
(Paris), the Catholic University of Uruguay
Universidad Católica del Uruguay Dámaso Antonio Larrañaga
The Universidad Católica del Uruguay Dámaso Antonio Larrañaga is a private university in Uruguay opened in 1985...
and the Autonomous University of Barcelona
Autonomous University of Barcelona
The Autonomous University of Barcelona is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain....
and the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
(Paris).
He is one of the founders of the Basic Income European Network
Basic Income Earth Network
The Basic Income Earth Network is a network of academics and activists interested in the idea of a universal basic income, i.e. a guaranteed minimum income based solely on citizenship and not on work requirement or charity...
(BIEN), which became in 2004 the Basic Income Earth Network
Basic Income Earth Network
The Basic Income Earth Network is a network of academics and activists interested in the idea of a universal basic income, i.e. a guaranteed minimum income based solely on citizenship and not on work requirement or charity...
, and he chairs its International Board. He coordinates the Ethical Forum of the University Foundation
University Foundation
The Belgian University Foundation was founded in 1920. The goal of the Foundation, as was put forward by Emile Francqui, is to promote scientific activity at Belgian universities....
, as well as, with Kris Deschouwer
Kris Deschouwer
Kris Deschouwer is a Belgian politicologist and professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He was a member of the Coudenberg group, a Belgian federalist think tank...
, the Pavia Group initiative. He is a member of Belgium's Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts
The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium
There are two Royal Academies for Science and the Arts in Belgium, corresponding to the two main languages of the country, Dutch and French . The Academies are located in the Palace of Academies in Brussels....
, of the International Institute of Philosophy, and of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
European Academy of Sciences and Arts
The European Academy of Sciences and Arts was created in 1990 in Salzburg, Austria by heart surgeon Felix Unger of Salzburg; the cardinal archbishop of Vienna, Franz König; and the political scientist and philosopher Nikolaus Lobkowicz....
and Fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
. In 2001, he was awarded the Francqui Prize
Francqui Prize
The Francqui Prize is a prestigious Belgian scholarly and scientific prize, awarded each year since 1933 by the Francqui Foundation in recognition of the achievements of a young Belgian scholar or scientist...
, Belgium's most generous scientific prize.
Work
In Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) can justify capitalism? (1995) he argues for both the justice and feasibility of a basic incomeBasic income
A basic income guarantee is a proposed system of social security, that regularly provides each citizen with a sum of money. In contrast to income redistribution between nations themselves, the phrase basic income defines payments to individuals rather than households, groups, or nations, in order...
for every citizen. It promotes the achievement of a real freedom
Real freedom
Real freedom is a term coined by the political philosopher and economist Philippe Van Parijs. It expands upon notions of negative freedom by incorporating not simply institutional or other constraints on a person's choices, but also the requirements of physical reality, resources and personal...
to make choices. For example, Van Parijs purports that one cannot really choose to stay at home to raise children or start a business if one cannot afford to. As proposed by Van Parijs, such freedom should be feasible through taxing the scarce, valued social good of jobs, as a form of income redistribution.
Another part of Van Parijs' work is about the economy of linguistic
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
communication. In order to compensate countries with a small language for their expenses on teaching and translation he has proposed a language tax
Language tax
The language tax is an economic concept proposed by the Belgian economist Philippe Van Parijs. It is intended to compensate countries with a less widespread language for their expenses for teaching and translation....
, which would be paid by countries with a widespread language, for their savings on the domains mentioned.
Van Parijs's work is sometimes associated with the September Group of analytic Marxism, though he is not himself a committed Marxist.
External links
- Personal homepage
- "The Need for Basic Income", interview with Chris BertramChris BertramChris Bertram is the Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs, and Chief Financial Officer, for the United States Department of Transportation. As Assistant Secretary, he is responsible for the Department’s budget, which totals over $70 billion per year. He also oversees the financial and...
, Imprints, vol. 1, no. 3 (March 1997)