Ethik und Gesellschaft

For decades, the German federal government has been unable to fulfill the constitutional mandate in Article 109 to finance public spending without borrowing. On the one hand, public spending has risen significantly in recent decades (and not only in Germany). In order to improve the security situation of the Federal Republic, to make the necessary investments on the path to climate neutrality, and to bring public infrastructure up to the required standard, ultimately enabling local authorities to act again, public spending will continue to rise in the future. On the other hand, the state has been unable to impose sufficiently high taxes on its citizens and businesses for decades. Although the German state's revenues have also increased in the past, expenditures have exceeded revenues, with the exception of the years 2014 to 2019. The inability to collect sufficiently high taxes is particularly evident in the case of citizens with high incomes and large fortunes – and increases with the amount of income and assets that are actually taxable. It is clear that the German state is not in a position to make taxpayers contribute to the financing of public expenditure in accordance with their ability to pay.

This issue of ethikundgesellschaft asks whether more fairness is needed in terms of taxation and whether – beyond that – greater tax fairness is even possible. Contrary to the promise that ›less government‹ would be better for Germany, the question is asked whether increasing public spending is necessary to cope with the tasks ahead and to ensure the future viability of democratic society, and whether it must therefore be implemented politically. It also asks whether the politically simpler solution of increasing government borrowing is the better and, above all, fairer solution for tight public budgets, given the resulting ›redistribution‹ from the bottom to the top. Above all, however, the question is asked whether and how the state can better mobilize society's capacity through taxation and how it can draw more heavily and effectively on high-income and high-net-worth citizens and companies to finance public spending.

Editors: Matthias Möhring-Hesse, Manuela Wannenmacher

The review section contains 17 reviews: New publications in (political) philosophy are discussed that deal with the ‘forgetting of property’ in science and society, illuminate the universalist legacy of the Enlightenment under postcolonial auspices, propose a ‘universalism from below’, develop a new relationship between humans and nature in light of multiple ecological crises, or explore the works of Walter Benjamin and political philosopher Rainer Forst for their contribution to pressing contemporary issues. Economic topoi are the focus of reviews of Joseph Stiglitz's new book, a new introduction to the topic of ‘capitalism’, an anthology on current discourses on poverty, and a collection of conversations between Thomas Piketty and Michael Sandel on the question of equality and justice. The future of care and nursing is the subject of reviews of a dissertation and an anthology in the field of social ethics, while two other reviewers discuss new publications on the relationship between Christianity and right-wing movements in the past and present. Reviews of new books exploring religious education and fundamental theology, new political theology, and the “sting of the digital” that digital humanities can inflict or withdraw in academia round off the review section.

Editors: Tim Eckes and Hermann-Josef Große Kracht