Eva Jaob’s thesis defense

Event details :

Thesis title: Unconditional basic income challenged by social justice. History, concept, experiment.

The jury is composed of:

Ms Magali Jaoul-Grammare, Research Fellow, CNRS, University of Strasbourg – Thesis supervisor

Ms Herrade Igersheim, Research Director, CNRS, University of Strasbourg – Thesis co-director

Ms Sylvie Thoron, Professor, IEP of Fontainebleau – Rapporteur

Mr Yannick Vanderborght, University Professor, UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles – Rapporteur

M. Stefano Bianchini, Senior Lectuer HDR, Université de Strasbourg – Examiner

Ms Nathalie Sigot, University Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne – Examiner

Abstract: This thesis focuses on basic income as formulated and developed by economist and philosopher Philippe Van Parijs. Using several complementary methods such as the history of economic thought, economic philosophy, and experimental economics, we aim to explore various issues related to basic income. In the first chapter, we demonstrate the complexity of the concept and seek to provide a clearer understanding of what basic income is, particularly how the scientific research on the subject is structured. The second chapter aims to study Van Parijs’s theory of justice centered on basic income, in order to examine whether this proposal, both theoretically and experimentally, can address the ethical critique that basic income leads to a lack of individual responsibility due to its unconditional nature. Finally, in the last chapter, we test in a laboratory setting, through an original protocol, whether Van Parijs’s theory is reflected in individual choices, and in particular whether the maximin principle can serve to justify basic income, as Van Parijs suggests.