Sharing Nature's Bounty: The Moral Case for a Universal Equal Endowment of Resources and its Political Implications

虽然在当代政治哲学中可以确定对平等的共同承诺，但对于这一承诺在社会内部分配方面的实际内容并没有达成共识。在这场辩论中，一个有影响力的运动是被称为“左派自由主义”的运动。左翼自由主义者试图综合我们对自由和平等的道德直觉，证明这两个概念不必冲突，就像过去的意识形态辩论经常表明的那样。左派自由主义理论有两个基本原则：第一，个人有权不受他人干涉；第二，没有人对世界资源有任何特殊要求，因此世界资源应该在每个人之间平等分配。根据左翼自由主义者的说法，每个人都应该在生命之初获得资源的捐赠，或者在一生中获得基本收入，代表他们在世界资源中的份额。我们的项目，共享自然的赏金，旨在澄清左翼自由意志主义捐赠提议的道德理由，并探索其政治影响，寻求弥合理论和实践之间的差距。我们将对左翼自由主义对平等的根本道德承诺进行哲学阐述和辩护，并展示什么样的平等资源最适合实现这一承诺。我们将询问如何确定建议捐赠的适当规模，以及个人应该在生命开始时获得一次过的捐赠，还是应该在一生中获得基本收入。与许多其他同类研究不同，这项计划的目的是超越传统的哲学讨论范围，研究建议的平等捐赠政策的政治影响。特别是，我们将重点研究左翼自由意志主义提案需要政府征税的程度，并考虑如何实施这种税收。我们将特别关注我们的研究对全球司法的影响，研究如何在国际层面上实施捐赠计划。该项目将涉及埃克塞特大学的两名研究人员和一名同样在埃克塞特工作的博士生。它的目的是回答当代政治哲学中的重要问题，建设这一研究领域的能力，围绕项目主题发展网络，并促进参与该项目的人的专业发展。该项目还旨在发展在现实世界决策中使用我们的研究。为了达到这一目标，除了我们将出版的学术文章和两篇手稿外，我们还将为更广泛读者的刊物撰写文章，如《经济学人》杂志和《新政治家》。我们将举办年度研讨会和一次大型的最后一年会议，与会者来自学术界和其他方面，包括政策制定者、智囊团和民间社会组织。

Although a shared commitment to equality can be identified in contemporary political philosophy, there is no consensus on what that commitment actually entails in terms of the distribution of goods within society. One influential movement within this debate is that which has been called 'left-libertarianism'. Left-libertarians attempt to synthesise our moral intuitions about both freedom and equality, demonstrating that the two concepts need not conflict, as ideological debate in the past has often suggested. Two principles are foundational in left-libertarian theory: first, that individuals have rights against interference by others; second, that no individuals have any special claims to the world's resources, and that the world's resources should therefore be shared out equally amongst everyone. According to left-libertarians, everyone should receive an endowment of resources at the start of their lives, or a basic income throughout their lives, representing their share of the world's resources. Our project, Sharing Nature's Bounty, aims to clarify the moral case for the left-libertarian endowments proposal and to explore its political implications, seeking to bridge the gap between theory and practice. We will provide a philosophical articulation and defence of the underlying left-libertarian moral commitment to equality, and show what sort of equal endowment of resources is most suitable for the realisation of that commitment. We will ask how to determine the appropriate size of the proposed endowment, and whether individuals should receive a one-off endowment at the start of their lives, or a basic income throughout their lives.Unlike many other studies of its kind, this project aims to go beyond the traditional scope of philosophical discussions to examine the political implications of the equal endowment policy proposed. In particular, we will focus on the extent to which left-libertarian proposals require government taxation, and consider how such taxation should be implemented. We will focus particular attention on the implications of our research for global justice, examining how the endowments proposal could be implemented at the international level.The project will involve two Investigators at the University of Exeter and a PhD student, also based at Exeter. It aims to answer important questions within contemporary political philosophy, to build capacity in this area of research, to develop networks around the project themes, and to promote the professional development of those participating in the project.The project also aims to develop the use our research in real-world policy making decisions. In order to acheive this aim, in addition to the academic articles and two manuscripts that we will publish, we will also write articles for publications with more general readerships such as The Economist magazine and The New Statesman. We will hold annual workshops and a large final-year conference involving participants from academia and beyond, including policy makers, think tanks and civil-society organisations.