What We Do

TO CREATE A HIGHLY INFORMED SOCIETY
About CEPS

The Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society is the only research centre in Portugal exclusively dedicated to the areas of Political Philosophy and Ethics.

Events
02/Events

As inequalities soar and the concentration of wealth lacerates the social fabric of traditional welfare state societies, the exploitative nature of late-stage capitalism has drawn the attention of a new generation of political philosophers, both in the critical and the analytical tradition.

Research

The Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society is a research unit of the Institute of Arts and Humanities at the University of Minho. The Centre aims to produce high-level scientific research.

Teaching

In its turn, democracy provides the natural environment for the protection and effective realization of human rights.

Upcoming Events

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  • June 28

    12th Braga Meetings on Ethics and Political Philosophy

    12th Braga Meetings on Ethics and Political Philosophy

    June 28, 2022
    12th Braga Meetings on Ethics and Political Philosophy

    The Meetings on Ethics and Political Philosophy is an annual event organized by the Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society (CEPS) at the University of Minho (Braga). The Meetings have established in the years a reputation for providing scholars with an excellent opportunity to present both advanced and exploratory work to a welcoming audience (see previous editions). This year the Meetings will be organized around a series of panels focusing on the Center’s research agenda. In addition, they will host round tables, book symposiums, and an informal session to discuss opportunities for research and funding. Graduate students, junior researchers and senior scholars are welcome to submit their work.

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  • July 8

    13th Summer School​ in Political Philosophy ​and Public Policy

    13th Summer School​ in Political Philosophy ​and Public Policy

    July 8, 2022
    13th Summer School​ in Political Philosophy ​and Public Policy

    Justice in Inheritance

    July 6-8, 2022
    University of Minho, Braga – Portugal

    ​The question of how to justify, address and regulate inheritance is of crucial importance for egalitarians. If contemporary market societies have a tendency to concentrate wealth and capital, the taxation of inheritance and of inter vivos gifts may be one important way to mitigate this dynamic. Whether inheritance should be taxed is an issue that has, however, been fairly neglected by theorists, particularly in the realm of political philosophy. There is also evidence that it arouses a greater deal of opposition than other purportedly egalitarian proposals, namely a wealth tax; opposition not only from the most advantaged but also by those who could gain the most from it.
    A concern with the fair value of equality of opportunity may be a consideration in favour of an inheritance tax of some kind. John Rawls defines fair equality of opportunity as equal access to elite positions within institutions (e.g., education, but also political offices, jobs, amongst others) for persons who are similarly endowed and motivated. Unequal wealth inheritance concedes some a comparative advantage in the pursuit of further education and in obtaining cultural resources – in the form of travel, for example – that afford one a greater chance to succeed. Concerns with the impacts of segregation and transmission of social capital might also favour inheritance taxation, if we establish the role inheritance has in transmitting both financial and non-financial capital.
    But arguments against inheritance taxation need to be taken seriously, and raise important concerns for a theory of distributive justice, but also claims of economic efficiency. Liberals might argue in defence of inheritance as an important and strong incentive to accumulate wealth. Such an incentive might be essential for further investments and the promotion of economic growth through private ventures. It may also be that inheritance helps keep the middle-class from shrinking, especially during periods of slow wage growth for younger adults.
    Inheritance, and its taxation, lies in the intersection of universal claims (such as the fair value of equality of opportunities) and claims of partiality. In this respect, concerns with how taxing inheritance might jeopardise family values might justify having unrestricted inheritance flows, particularly within families.
    Finally, it is important to consider how inheritance fits in the institutional framework of a theory of distributive justice. It is particularly important to understand how to include inheritance tax within existing tax systems, while trying to accommodate the subtleties of the moral arguments one might claim when arguing in favour of taxing inheritance. Such considerations are of particular relevance for public policy and will also be considered in our discussion.

  • July 20

    Predistribution and Property-owning Democracy Seminar

    Predistribution and Property-owning Democracy Seminar

    July 20, 2022
    Predistribution and Property-owning Democracy Seminar
    Mark R. Reiff

    Is Universal Basic Income a Trojan Horse?

    Online, 17h

    The 12th session of the Predistribution and Property-Owning Democracy online seminar, will take place July 20th at 5pm (Lisbon time). In this session we will be discussing Mark Reiff’s recent paper ‘Is Universal Basic Income a Trojan Horse?’ (2022). Mark Reiff, our invited speaker, will make a brief presentation of the main ideas of the chapter, followed by a reply by a discussant to be announced and a debate with the participants.

    Mark Reiff (speaker)

    Mark R. Reiff is the author of five books: In the Name of Liberty: The Argument for Universal Unionization (Cambridge University Press, 2020); On Unemployment, Volume I: A Micro-Theory of Economic Justice and Volume II: Achieving Economic Justice after the Great Recession (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015); Exploitation and Economic Justice in the Liberal Capitalist State (Oxford University Press, 2013); and Punishment, Compensation, and Law: A Theory of Enforceability (Cambridge University Press, 2005). His papers on issues within political, legal, and moral philosophy have appeared in leading academic journals in the US, the UK, France, and Canada, and his work has been translated into and discussed in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Chinese. Dr. Reiff has taught political, legal, and moral philosophy at the University of Manchester, the University of Durham, the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, and the University of California at Davis, and in 2008-09 he was a Faculty Fellow at the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. He is currently completing a book called The Unbearable Resilience of Illiberalism on the rise of Trumpism, populism, and the alt right.

    Website / More Information

  • November 8

    New Site training and presentation

    New Site training and presentation

    November 8, 2022
    New Site training and presentation

    Justice in Inheritance

    July 6-8, 2022
    University of Minho, Braga – Portugal

    ​The question of how to justify, address and regulate inheritance is of crucial importance for egalitarians. If contemporary market societies have a tendency to concentrate wealth and capital, the taxation of inheritance and of inter vivos gifts may be one important way to mitigate this dynamic. Whether inheritance should be taxed is an issue that has, however, been fairly neglected by theorists, particularly in the realm of political philosophy. There is also evidence that it arouses a greater deal of opposition than other purportedly egalitarian proposals, namely a wealth tax; opposition not only from the most advantaged but also by those who could gain the most from it.
    A concern with the fair value of equality of opportunity may be a consideration in favour of an inheritance tax of some kind. John Rawls defines fair equality of opportunity as equal access to elite positions within institutions (e.g., education, but also political offices, jobs, amongst others) for persons who are similarly endowed and motivated. Unequal wealth inheritance concedes some a comparative advantage in the pursuit of further education and in obtaining cultural resources – in the form of travel, for example – that afford one a greater chance to succeed. Concerns with the impacts of segregation and transmission of social capital might also favour inheritance taxation, if we establish the role inheritance has in transmitting both financial and non-financial capital.
    But arguments against inheritance taxation need to be taken seriously, and raise important concerns for a theory of distributive justice, but also claims of economic efficiency. Liberals might argue in defence of inheritance as an important and strong incentive to accumulate wealth. Such an incentive might be essential for further investments and the promotion of economic growth through private ventures. It may also be that inheritance helps keep the middle-class from shrinking, especially during periods of slow wage growth for younger adults.
    Inheritance, and its taxation, lies in the intersection of universal claims (such as the fair value of equality of opportunities) and claims of partiality. In this respect, concerns with how taxing inheritance might jeopardise family values might justify having unrestricted inheritance flows, particularly within families.
    Finally, it is important to consider how inheritance fits in the institutional framework of a theory of distributive justice. It is particularly important to understand how to include inheritance tax within existing tax systems, while trying to accommodate the subtleties of the moral arguments one might claim when arguing in favour of taxing inheritance. Such considerations are of particular relevance for public policy and will also be considered in our discussion.

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Centre for Ethics, Politics and SocietyELACH Building – University of Minho MinhoCampus de Gualtar

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