An Approach to a Philosophy of Social Insurance

Webster defines a philosophy as an integrated and consistent personal attitude toward life or reality, or toward certain phases of it. That is another way of saying that a philosophy is a set of intelligent opinions about a phase of living, based on observation, sound reasoning, and common sense. A philosophy of social insurance consists of a set of intelligent opinions about social insurance--about its purpose, its possibilities, its limitations; about the relative advantages and disadvantages of alternative forms of social insurance; and most important of all, about the relationship of social insurance to our daily life as a whole.