nav-icons nav-icons
Progress in Political Economy (PPE) Progress in Political Economy (PPE)
LOGIN REGISTER
LOGIN
REGISTER
linklink
  • Home
  • About
  • Manchester University Press Book Series
  • Past & Present Reading Group
  • A Political Economy of Australian Capitalism
  • Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE)
    • Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE)
    • JAPE Issues
    • JAPE Submission Guidelines
    • JAPE Young Scholar Award
  • Australian IPE Network (AIPEN)
  • Forums
    • Forums
    • Debating Anatomies of Revolution
    • Debating Debtfare States
    • Debating Economic Ideas in Political Time
    • Debating Mass Strikes and Social Movements in Brazil and India
    • Debating Social Movements in Latin America
    • Debating The Making of Modern Finance
    • Debating War and Social Change in Modern Europe
    • Feminist Global “Secureconomy”
    • Gendered Circuits of Labour and Violence in Global Crises
    • Scandalous Economics
    • The Military Roots of Neoliberal Governance
    • Politicising artistic pedagogies
  • Literary Geographies of Political Economy
  • Pedagogy
    • Five Minute Honours Theses
    • Piketty Forum
    • Radical Economics Pedagogy
    • Unconventional Wisdom
    • Journal Club
    • Marxism Reading Group
  • Wheelwright Lecture
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Links
    • Political Economy At Sydney
    • PHD in Political Economy
    • Master of Political Economy
    • Centre for Future Work
    • Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ)
    • Climate Justice Research Centre (UTS)
Latin America in the Twilight of the Pink Tide
Previous
Uneven and Combined Development: Modernity, Modernism, Revolution (4): Continuities and Changes
Next

Karl Widerquist, ‘Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy’

by Troy Henderson on July 25, 2017

Karl Widerquist, ‘Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy’

Troy Henderson | July 25, 2017

Tags: basic income
basic income
| 0 359

Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy

Presentation by Karl Widerquist, Associate Professor of political philosophy at SFS-Qatar, Georgetown University

Before public lecture on ‘Why we need a universal basic income’ – https://ppesydney.net/need-universal-basic-income-karl-widerquist-sydney-lecture/

Date: Wednesday 16 August 2017

Time: 2pm-4.00pm

Location: Darlington Centre Boardroom, University of Sydney

About the presentation

The book, Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy, on which this presentation is based is an anthropological critique of two of two theories that have dominated political philosophy for centuries. It carefully examines the most influential justifications of government and of private property to show how—despite significant equivocation—both rely on the seldom-questioned empirical premise the book calls, “the Hobbesian Hypothesis.” That is the belief that everyone in a society with a government and/or a private property rights system is better off than anyone could be in a society without those institutions. In other words, the “Lockean Proviso” is fulfilled—whether by the state or by the property rights system or both. The book traces the path of this claim through the history of political thought from Hobbes and Locke to the present showing how it has become entrenched in most contemporary political thought on these issues. Although a few philosophers have criticized the hypothesis, contemporary philosophers continue to repeat it as if it were obvious while providing little or no evidence to support it. The book argues that the truth value of this claim cannot be obvious because it involves a comparison between two groups that most philosophers have little direct knowledge of: the very poor in capitalist states and people living in small-scale stateless societies distant in time and/or place from the everyday experience of philosophers. The book examines anthropological and archaeological evidence to make that comparison. It presents convincing evidence that neither the state nor the property rights system have benefited the least advantaged people in contemporary capitalist states. The very poor, socially isolated people, and the victims of modern diseases are worse off than they could reasonably expect to be if they were allowed to live in a stateless society without a private property system. The presentation makes a broad preview of the book’s findings.

About the presenter

Karl Widerquist is an Associate Professor of political philosophy at SFS-Qatar, Georgetown University. His research is mostly in the area of distributive justice—the ethics of who has what. He holds two doctorates—one in Political Theory (Oxford University 2006) and one in Economics (the City University of New York 1996). He has published seven books, including Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy (Edinburgh University Press 2017, coauthored by Grant S. McCall) and Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income: A Theory of Freedom as the Power to Say No (Palgrave Macmillan 2013). He has published more than two dozen scholarly articles and book chapters. He is a cofounder of the journal, Basic Income Studies, the only academic journal devoted to research on Basic Income. He has appeared on or been quoted by many major media outlets, including the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, Forbes, the Financial Times, NPR’s On Point, NPR’s Marketplace, PRI’s the World, CNBC, Al-Jazeera, 538, Vice, Dissent, and others. Much of his writing is available on his “Selected Works” website. More information about him is available at his BIEN profile.

Contact: Troy Henderson, troy.henderson@sydney.edu.au

Share this post

  • Tweet
  • Share Post:

Author: Troy Henderson

Troy Henderson is a Senior Research Officer with the University of Sydney's Mental Wealth Initiative. He is Co-Director of the Australian Basic Income Lab, a research collaboration between the University of Sydney, Macquarie University and the Australian National University. He has a particular interest in Basic Income Studies, macroeconomic economic policy, social policy reform, and the political economy of work. His PhD thesis explored Basic Income as a Policy Option for Australia. Between 2017 and 2019 he worked as a Research Economist at the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute. His Masters research focused on The Four-Day Workweek as a Policy Option for Australia, while his PhD thesis explores Basic Income as a Policy Option for Australia. He has published academic articles and book chapters on these and other work-related topics, and has undertaken economic consulting work for Public Services International. He has presented at national and international conferences, and is a regular media commentator. He is passionate about fair work, social justice, cricket and the NBA. Twitter: @TroyCHenderson

Related Posts

 

Webinar: The Liveable Income Guarantee – The Missing Link in Social Security?

The Liveable Income Guarantee – The Missing Link in Social Security?  

A webinar organised by the Australian Ba...

 

Basic Income after COVID-19 Workshop Recordings

The Australian Basic Income Lab organised its inaugural national workshop on Friday 10 December 2021. Hosted by the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Sydney, ...

 

Basic Income Earth Network Congress in Brisbane 2022 – Call for Papers

The 21st BIEN Congress will be a hybrid event, involving a mixture of online and face-to-face events. The main face-to-face event will take place in Brisbane, Australia in the f...

 

Social Sciences Week 2021 events

The School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney is once again proud to partner with Social Sciences Week Australia for an exciting week of public talks sho...

Comments

Leave a Response Cancel reply


Join our mailing list

© Progress in Political Economy (PPE)

Privacy | Designed by Nucleo | Terms and Conditions

  • Home
  • About
  • Manchester University Press Book Series
  • Past & Present Reading Group
  • A Political Economy of Australian Capitalism
  • Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE)
    • Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE)
    • JAPE Issues
    • JAPE Submission Guidelines
    • JAPE Young Scholar Award
  • Australian IPE Network (AIPEN)
  • Forums
    • Forums
    • Debating Anatomies of Revolution
    • Debating Debtfare States
    • Debating Economic Ideas in Political Time
    • Debating Mass Strikes and Social Movements in Brazil and India
    • Debating Social Movements in Latin America
    • Debating The Making of Modern Finance
    • Debating War and Social Change in Modern Europe
    • Feminist Global “Secureconomy”
    • Gendered Circuits of Labour and Violence in Global Crises
    • Scandalous Economics
    • The Military Roots of Neoliberal Governance
    • Politicising artistic pedagogies
  • Literary Geographies of Political Economy
  • Pedagogy
    • Five Minute Honours Theses
    • Piketty Forum
    • Radical Economics Pedagogy
    • Unconventional Wisdom
    • Journal Club
    • Marxism Reading Group
  • Wheelwright Lecture
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Links
    • Political Economy At Sydney
    • PHD in Political Economy
    • Master of Political Economy
    • Centre for Future Work
    • Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ)
    • Climate Justice Research Centre (UTS)