Pending moral battles

Abstract

The text published here reproduces the introductory chapter of a book that the author has begun to write. The work proposes an interpretative reconstruction, not only of the three scripts that would have inspired the design of the social security and distributive transfer programs tested or proposed over the last 150 years, but also of the sequence of experiments, contrasts and revisions that make up the current state of the debates and available alternatives. In other words, everything that defines our current agenda, the moral battles pending. As this is an introductory presentation, the text is limited to outlining the general outlines of the project of reconstructing the sequence, as well as its main normative commitments and methodological options. In particular, it justifies the licenses taken in attributing to Bismarck, Beveridge and Rawls a certain "diluted" modality of authorship in the orientation of the three inspiring librettos.