Limitarianism refers to several different types of

ethical theories Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of morality, right and wrong action (philosophy), behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, alo ...

. Though Limitarianism applies differently to varied fields of study, what is always common is an examination of when it is proper, moral or ethical to interfere and intervene in the lives and freedoms of individuals, in order to benefit society as a whole. It sometimes presents as a

principle A principle is a proposition or value that is a guide for behavior or evaluation. In law, it is a Legal rule, rule that has to be or usually is to be followed. It can be desirably followed, or it can be an inevitable consequence of something, suc ...

distributive justice Distributive justice concerns the socially just allocation of resources. Often contrasted with just process, which is concerned with the administration of law, distributive justice concentrates on outcomes. This subject has been given considera ...

in economic theories ('Economic Limitarianism'). Unlike encompassing systems of political and economic intervention (

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

;

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

), which seek to make dramatic changes to the social order, Limitarianism deals with specific instances and subjects, for which the necessity and justification of intervention may be examined. As its name implies, Limitarianism asks the question of how setting certain limits for human beings can lead to positive outcomes.

Early uses of term 'Limitarianism'

The first known use of the term 'Limitarianism' seems to have been in early

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

Christian Theological Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exeges ...

Limitarianism teaches that Christ's atonement applies only to the elect (as

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

), and not to all humanity (as

Christian universalism Christian universalism is a school of Christian theology focused around the doctrine of universal reconciliation – the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God. "Christian universalism" ...

taught), or of limited atonement and

irresistible grace Irresistible grace (also called effectual grace, effectual calling, or efficacious grace) is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those wh ...

as St. Augustine had taught.

Types of Limitarianism in philosophy, political Science and economics

Ethical Limitarianism

Ethical Limitarianism is an

ethical theory Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

which (1) tries to be a partial account of

, (2) which belongs within the realms of politics rather than morality, (3) which is conceived and developed at the level of non-ideal theory, (4) which relies on an instrumental justification.

Democratic Limitarianism

Democratic Limitarianism is a

political theory Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

which posits that

governments A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

have priority duties to their citizenry to protect it from risk and to ensure independence from fear. Based on such ideas, this political philosophy urges that governments should prioritize protecting the citizens against fear of death or injury from: * Domestic threats * Foreign threats * Social insecurity * Environmental hazard There exists a political movement which advocates for such ideas through principles of

prioritization Prioritization is the activity that arranges items or activities in order of importance relative to each other. In the context of medical evaluation it is the establishment of the importance or the urgency of actions that are necessary to prese ...

Economic Limitarianism

Economic Limitarianism is a school of thought in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

which asserts that social improvement can be attained by the placement of a certain limit on personal wealth. Different modalities have been proposed for the regulation of such a limit. Economic Limitarianism differs from Socialism in that it does not negate the idea of private property, or completely bars the accumulation of wealth. It rather sets to determine and enforce a limit on the accumulation thereof, as means of creating a positive change in the economic system of a nation. Academic theorist

Ingrid Robeyns Ingrid A.M. Robeyns (born 1972) holds the Chair Ethics of Institutions at Utrecht University, Faculty of Humanities and the associated Ethics Institute. Robeyns is also a Fellow of the Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) and ...

has been promoting a formal of Economic Limitarianism which proposes a system of social justice via wealth distribution, which bears some similarities to Social Democracies and Socialism. Robeyn's idea of Economic Limitarianism states that it is morally impermissible to be (excessively)

rich Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

(i.e., have more economic resources than a certain level). The Ethical-Economic Limitarianism of Robeyns would contrast with this view of Democratic Limitarianism. In 2016, the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

awarded Robeyns a grant of 2 million Euros for conducting a 5-year research study on Limitarianism. Author Jonathan Bluestein has proposed a type of Economic Limitarianism called 'Prosperism'. Differing from Robeyns' approach, the system of Prosperism calls for distribution of wealth based on more

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

and

capitalistic Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private p ...

guidelines. While Robeyns' philosophy argues that both income and wealth should be limited and regulated, and views excess enrichment as 'immoral', Bluestein's approach demands only that wealth be limited, without a restriction of income, and does not condone enrichment altogether. Although the term 'Economic Limitarianism' is a relatively new one, the origins of the concept could be argued to have already been extant in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, and possibly before that. The Old Testament presents a form of 'taxation' known as a '

Tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

', which is equal to 10% of the crop of a farmer. A First Tithe (10%) was to be paid to the priests of the tribe of Levi, and the Second Tithe (another 10%) was in some years to be given to the poor. Thus, the Tithe can be thought of as an intentional limit placed on the accumulation of wealth. The First Tithe is akin to Robeyns' Limitarianism, which supports a deliverance of excess wealth to the Bureaucracy, while the Second Tithe is more reminiscent of Bluestein's Prosperism, which proposes that those who amass wealth ought to share, but should have a choice with respect to whom to share it with. Both types of Tithe differ from modern-day

Taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal person, legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regiona ...

in that they serve purposes other than enriching a State so that it could serve its citizenry.

Response and criticism

In the year 2021, two articles were published in the Penn Journal of Philosophy Politics and Economics, Volume 16, providing academic analysis of Economic Limitarianism from different points of view. The articles specifically tackled the version of Economic Limitarianism promoted by Robeyns, and referred to her work. In the first article of the two, Karl Meyer proposed extending Robeyns' theories by applying them to corporations. Meyer posited that the problems raised by Robeyns with regard to excess of wealth, were not limited to individuals, but rather were also characteristic of corporations. Thus, it was Meyer's opinion that the wealth of corporations should also be subjected to limitarian laws and regulations. The second article of the two, written by Timothy J. Nicklas, criticizes Robeyns' views. Nicklas addresses two of Robeyns' claims concerning the benefits of Economic Limitarianism, specifically that: 1. It is possible to determine a wealth limit which objectively encapsulates what is necessary for a "what is needed to have a flourishing life", and 2. That Limitarianism would improve the Democratic process. Nicklas is not convinced that there could be an over-arching objective economic measure of people's financial needs to assert a 'good life', a criticism already raised earlier by Bluestein. Nicklas also pointed out, that the striving for political power and the abuse thereof shall continue, even if there had been a limit placed on individual wealth.

Similar and related modalities

Socialism and communism

Socialism and communism can be thought of as extreme forms of Economic Limitarianism. They call for a revolutionary nationalization of individual wealth and property, as well as the complete or very expansive abolition of private property, as means of creating greater social equity. Limitarianism differs from them in that it still tolerates a certain level of inequality.

Sufficientarianism

Sufficientarianism is a school of thought in

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, which strives to determine what are the supposed basic needs that should be allotted to human beings in order to guarantee social equity, or at least equality of opportunity.Robert Husbey, Sufficientarianism, POLITICS. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1382 ; https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-1382 Such questions which are asked by Sufficientarianism, have historically been an integral part of democractic theory and socialist theory, as in both exist the belief that the State has a duty to provide the citizenry with certain 'needs' and 'rights'. Both Sufficientarianism and Limitarianism revolve around the topics of social equity and equality of opportunity. However, while Sufficientarianism deals with questions regarding what people should have or need to be granted, Limitarianism examines how to place limits of excess on accumulation of wealth.

References

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