Miranda Fleischer (Illinois) presents Charitable Justice at Chicago-Kent today as part of its Faculty Workshop Series.  Here is the abstract:

Distributive justice scholars generally tell one of two stories about philanthropy. One is that much giving benefits the middle- and upper-class (think of gifts to the opera). Because little redistribution results, they argue, such gifts don’t merit a charitable deduction and the deduction should be limited to groups helping the poor. Another account is that any charitable deduction violates taxpayers’ rights by forcing them to subsidize projects other than the pure public goods necessary to ensure a functioning marketplace (such as courts). While appealing in their simplicity, these descriptions are unfulfilling. This Article will provide a more nuanced account of the interaction between distributive justice and charity.