Philosophical reflections on the idea of a universal basic income

A universal basic income is an unconditional allowance, sufficient to live on, paid incash to every citizen regardless of income. It has been a Green Party policy for years.But the idea raises many interesting philosophical questions, about fairness, entitle-ment, desert, stigma and sanctions, the value of unpaid work, the proper ambitions ofa good society, and our preconceptions about whether leisure (time for recreation andfree creativity) or jobs (working to give the proceeds of our labour and the luxury offree time to someone else) are the thing we should prize above all for free citizens.Coming from the perspective of ancient philosophy, I consider the answers offeredin the ancient world to some of these questions, and how we might learn from re-thinking our notions of how to create a good society in which people can be freeand realise their creative and intellectual potential