Ordenación de la actividad económica, ley natural y justicia en Aristóteles y en Santo Tomás

Ordination of economic activity, natural law and justice in Aristotle and Saint Thomas

José Luis Cendejas Bueno

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: In Aristotle’s thought, economic activity refers to a kind or praxis consisting of allocating human and material means comprising the oikos –the domestic community- to fulfill its natural ends: ensure both life and means of life. By means of natural chrematistics -acquisitive art- families acquire the necessary means for that, coming from production and exchange. Families group together in the political community (polis) whose end is well living, according virtue, outstanding justice as the “perfect virtue”. For its part, the Christian ethos informs this complete system (polis, oikos and chrematistics) ordering towards its ultimate purpose (beatitudo) every human act, internal and external. In St. Thomas view, eternal law constitutes the order of Creation that man can freely accept. This law harmonizes necessity of irrational beings, loving God’s action (divine law), natural law, and the contingency of “human things” that include economy. Trading activity is licit if it is at oikos or polis disposal and according how is exercised, by following commutative justice. Familiar, political and religious man’s nature establishes what the natural-necessary consists of, embracing, apart from body goods, others goods derived from considering social status and the life chosen (civil, religious, active or contemplative). Economic activity based on this anthropological root has a specific place as a part of an ordered natural-legal totality that provides economy with a meaning and a sufficient moral guidance.

Keywords: oikonomia; chrematistics; natural law; economic thought of Aristotle; economic thought of Saint Thomas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 B11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-09-05, Revised 2016-09-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe and nep-sog
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/73585/1/MPRA_paper_73585.pdf original version (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:73585

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany Ludwigstraße 33, D-80539 Munich, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Joachim Winter ().