The moral force of the benefit principle

Voyiakis, Emmanuel ORCID: 0000-0002-6351-4733 (2025) The moral force of the benefit principle. Economics and Philosophy. ISSN 0266-2671

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Abstract

What gives the benefit principle its moral appeal as an idea of tax justice? And what can count as a benefit for that purpose? My claim is that we can trace the moral force of various versions of the principle to five ideas: individual justification, causal feedback, reciprocity, opposable valuation and non-objectionable baseline. I develop those ideas into an account of the moral permissibility of benefit-based taxation, and explain how that account addresses problems about the quantification and valuation of benefits and the relationship between benefit and the justice of the background distribution.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author
Divisions:	Law School
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Date Deposited:	12 Feb 2025 12:42
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2025 00:55
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/127293

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