Exploring economic equality through a dialogue between Confucianism and limitarianism

Limitarianism, introduced by Robeyns, advocates for establishing a maximum threshold on individual wealth to prevent excessive accumulation. Robeyns’ work primarily draws from Western thought and does not engage with East Asian traditions such as Confucianism. This paper aims to bridge that gap by exploring the potential for dialogue between limitarianism and Confucianism on economic equality and distributive justice, using sufficientarianism as a nexus. I examine how Confucianism and limitarianism each relate to sufficientarianism and how these relationships can facilitate meaningful exchanges. Confucianism could potentially align with limitarianism by presenting it as a pragmatic, problem-driven philosophy for achieving economic equality consistent with Confucian ideals. The paper also addresses limitations of this dialogue and suggests potential directions for future research.