Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Silvestri, Paolo
Author-Email: paolo.silvestri@unito.it
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Turin
Author-Workplace-Homepage: http://www.est.unito.it/
Title: Anthropology of Freedom and Tax Justice: Between Exchange and Gift. Thoughts for an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda. 
Abstract: With this paper I try to sketch a research agenda on the basis of which humanities and social sciences might 
interact with each other, searching for a human common ground in tax issues. To this purpose I shall proceed as follows: 
(§2) I will sketch two working hypotheses showing how and why tax system raises anthropological issues at the intersection 
of Philosophy of law, Politics and Economics; to restrict the field of enquiry, I will then analyse, firstly (§2.1), 
the most common theories of taxation – benefit-cost principle and ability-to-pay principle – usually meant as attempts 
to answer the demand for tax justice; and, secondly (§2.2), the issue of freedom in taxation as a problem of legal-political 
and economic obligation. I will then show how the research might gain some insight from both (§3.1) the literature on homo 
reciprocans, and (§3.2) the literature on gift-giving, which might allow us to better articulate the demands for
justice and freedom, as well as to glimpse the human foundations of a new fiscal democracy.
Length: 26 pages
Creation-Date: 2015-09
File-URL: http://www.est.unito.it/do/home.pl/Download?doc=/allegati/wp2015dip/wp_34_2015.pdf
File-Format: Application/PDF
Handle: RePEc:uto:cesmep:201503