Abstract

VOLLET, MATTHIAS. (ARISTOTLE AND THE ECONOMY WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF PRACTICAL REASON). Ideas y Valores [online]. 2007, vol.56, n.134, pp.45-60. ISSN 0120-0062.

Abstract: By contrast to the contemporary economy, Ancient Greece had a closed economy. In what follows I distinguish an outer and an inner perspective. The outer perspective is determined by the autarky of the household (Hesiod) or of the city (Aristotle), which is the exclusive moral aim for economic activity. The inner perspective is determined by the moral implications of economic activity, founded in the gods (Hesiod) or in practical human reason (Aristotle). Both of these perspectives limit the scope and range of an economy and of economic influence on society. The distinction between the persepcectives gives us the basis for another distinction explicitly stated in Aristotle's Politics. That distinction has influenced economic thought for several centuries and consists in distinguishing two forms of economic activity: a 'good' one, which is constrained by the limits mentioned above, and a 'bad' one, which aims for continuous growth without limits.

Keywords : economy; Aristotle; Hesiod; autarky; limit.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )