The politics of redistribution : an interdisciplinary dialogue on the foundations of the welfare state

Abstract

The contributions to this working paper explore the foundations of the Welfare State, in particular of redistributive policies, from the perspectives of both practical philosophy and empirical political science. Nicola Riva attempts to provide a "philosophical reconstruction" of the democratic conception of political morality, that is, the conception of political morality underlying redistributive policies in contemporary Western democracies. Ilaria Madama integrates such a reconstruction by providing an insight on those policies and on the political logic that informs them from the different perspective of political science. The contribution by Giulia Bistagnino challenges Riva's conception of practical philosophy as a reconstructive practice, by arguing for the importance of practical objectivity. Finally, in his reply to Bistagnino, Riva tries to defend his conception of practical philosophy by arguing that objectivity in practical philosophy is neither possible nor necessary.