As recent empirical research suggests, bequest and inheritance affect the distribution of wealth in many Western democracies in ways that run counter to some of our fundamental beliefs. These beliefs include, for example, the view that there should be reasonable equality of opportunity in the labor market, or that we should meet as equal citizens in the political sphere. In view of this state of affairs, we have to ask: Why do we hold on to the right to bequeath at all? Should we continue to do so? Or should we replace the right to bequeath (and the right to inherit) with a different way of regulating the intergenerational transfer of wealth? In the research project outlined here, these questions will be discussed from the perspectives of the philosophy of law, social philosophy, and political philosophy.
Professor Jens Beckert, Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung, Cologne
Professor Jennifer Bird-Pollan, Judge William T. Lafferty Professor of Law, J. David Rosenberg College of Law, University of Kentucky
Professor Thomas Gutmann, Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster
Professor Regina Kreide, Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen