Universal basic income in Viennese Late Enlightenment: rediscovering Josef Popper-Lynkeus and his in-kind social program

Linsbichler, Alexander and Vianna Franco, Marco P.. 2025. Universal basic income in Viennese Late Enlightenment: rediscovering Josef Popper-Lynkeus and his in-kind social program. European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, ISSN 0967-2567 [Article] (In Press)

[img]
Preview
Text
Linsbichler Vianna Franco 2025.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract or Description

Austrian engineer, philosopher, and political economist Josef Popper-Lynkeus (1838–1921) was a renowned public intellectual of Viennese Late Enlightenment. In this article, we unearth and explore Popper-Lynkeus’s social program. It sought to implement social conscription to unconditionally guarantee a basic level of goods and services for every human individual. We appraise the economic and ethical justifications provided by Popper-Lynkeus for his allegedly “rational” proposals and the intended consequences for the discipline of economics. Finally, and based on our disambiguation of different notions of “unconditionality”, we clarify similarities and differences between Popper-Lynkeus’s social program and contemporary proposals for a universal basic income, characterising both as alternatives to traditional welfare states.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1080/09672567.2024.2444921

Additional Information:

JEL Classification: B19; B31; P41; P46

Funding: The authors disclose receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [grant number ESP 10.55776/ESP206]. It was also supported by the EUTOPIA Science and Innovation Fellowship Programme and funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 945380. This article reflects only the authors’ views and funding agencies are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. For the purpose of open access, the corresponding author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.

Keywords:

Josef Popper-Lynkeus; universal basic income; Viennese Late Enlightenment; Otto Neurath; calculation in kind; rationality; welfare state

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Institute of Management Studies

Dates:

DateEvent
22 November 2025Accepted
10 January 2025Published Online

Item ID:

38090

Date Deposited:

10 Jan 2025 11:25

Last Modified:

10 Jan 2025 11:25

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/38090

View statistics for this item...

Edit Record Edit Record (login required)