Role of Philosphic Knowledge in Developing Common Good and Justification for Government Funding of the Philosophers

Abstract

Morality can be assessed through a teleological and deontological lens, in which an act is considered to be moral if it advances the common good and the means of achieving this societally beneficial outcome is justified. This study hypothesizes that funding the philosopher's work in a democratic government is moral, as value of philosophy lies in knowledge production and moral enrichment. This is governed by justifying four conditions through empiricism and the scientific method: serving the public interest, involving government role/intervention, strengthening the philosophic knowledge, and financing this knowledge through taxation. Focusing on the observational belief of acts, knowledge production, reasoning, and justification of beliefs continuously develop with philosophic ideas, making them suitable recipients of government funding. Morality is not absolute but socially constructed by several philosophic interventions in conjunction with the government's role. Secondly, there is a need for optimal philosophic knowledge, the adequate knowledge required to attain maximum social advantage with minimum cost. By constructing philosophic knowledge as an economic commodity, their dual status as a public and merit good justify their provision by the state. Lastly, the morality of taxation is discussed through philosophers lens such as Robert Nozick and John Rawls. As each citizen benefits from the government-provided facilities, thus paying a part of the income as tax to the government is moral. Moreover, the government is assisted by philosophic knowledge and creating moral goods. Thus, it is justified that funding a philosopher through taxation is moral as it does not infringe on individual freedom.