Aquinas and the Market
Aquinas and the Market

Author: Mary L. Hirschfeld

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2018-11-26

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0674988604

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Economists and theologians usually inhabit different intellectual worlds. Economists investigate the workings of markets and tend to set ethical questions aside. Theologians, anxious to take up concerns raised by market outcomes, often dismiss economics and lose insights into the influence of market incentives on individual behavior. Mary L. Hirschfeld, who was a professor of economics for fifteen years before training as a theologian, seeks to bridge these two fields in this innovative work about economics and the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. According to Hirschfeld, an economics rooted in Thomistic thought integrates many of the insights of economists with a larger view of the good life, and gives us critical purchase on the ethical shortcomings of modern capitalism. In a Thomistic approach, she writes, ethics and economics cannot be reconciled if we begin with narrow questions about fair wages or the acceptability of usury. Rather, we must begin with an understanding of how economic life serves human happiness. The key point is that material wealth is an instrumental good, valuable only to the extent that it allows people to flourish. Hirschfeld uses that insight to develop an account of a genuinely humane economy in which pragmatic and material concerns matter but the pursuit of wealth for its own sake is not the ultimate goal. The Thomistic economics that Hirschfeld outlines is thus capable of dealing with our culture as it is, while still offering direction about how we might make the economy better serve the human good.

Author:

Publisher:

Published:

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0674986407

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Thomas Aquinas and the Civil Economy Tradition
Thomas Aquinas and the Civil Economy Tradition

Author: Paolo Santori

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-05-16

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1000386589

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Delving into the history of economic thought, this book presents a picture of the Mediterranean spirit of capitalism, a tradition that has its protagonists in Thomas Aquinas and the eighteenth-century civil economy, and seeks to understand its presence and relevance for contemporary societies. The book argues that it is reductive to attribute to the ‘Protestant ethic’ the different formations of capitalism in the Western world. Instead, it is vital to acknowledge the differences in the ways in which the market is lived, enterprises are created and conducted, and civic life in general is understood in different regions. This thought-provoking study demonstrates that in Southern Europe, the legacy of Aquinas and the civil economy adds different terms to those recurring in classical and neo-classical economy: common good, reciprocity, virtue, public trust, mutual assistance, and public happiness. It is these ideas of a market as a place for mutual assistance which can be said to characterize the Mediterranean spirit of capitalism. Thomas Aquinas and the Civil Economy Tradition will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in the history of economic thought, economic philosophy, Christian ethics, and moral theology.

A Humane Economy
A Humane Economy

Author: Wilhelm Röpke

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2014-04-08

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1497636426

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“A Humane Economy is like a seminar on integral freedom conducted by a professor of uncommon brilliance.” —Wall Street Journal “If any person in our contemporary world is entitled to a hearing it is Wilhelm Röpke.” —New York Times A Humane Economy offers one of the most accessible and compelling explanations of how economies operate ever written. The masterwork of the great twentieth-century economist Wilhelm Röpke, this book presents a sweeping, brilliant exposition of market mechanics and moral philosophy. Röpke cuts through the jargon and statistics that make most economic writing so obscure and confusing. Over and over, the great Swiss economist stresses one simple point: you cannot separate economic principles from human behavior. Röpke’s observations are as relevant today as when they were first set forth a half century ago. He clearly demonstrates how those societies that have embraced free-market principles have achieved phenomenal economic success—and how those that cling to theories of economic centralization endure stagnation and persistent poverty. A Humane Economy shows how economic processes and government policies influence our behavior and choices—to the betterment or detriment of life in those vital and highly fragile human structures we call communities. “It is the precept of ethical and humane behavior, no less than of political wisdom,” Röpke reminds us, “to adapt economic policy to man, not man to economic policy.”

Aquinas and the Market
Aquinas and the Market

Author: Mary Lee Hirschfeld

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780674988620

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Economists and theologians usually inhabit different intellectual worlds. Economists investigate the workings of markets and tend to set ethical questions aside. Theologians, anxious to take up concerns raised by market outcomes, often dismiss economics and lose insights into the influence of market incentives on individual behavior. Mary L. Hirschfeld, who was a professor of economics for fifteen years before training as a theologian, seeks to bridge these two fields in this innovative work about economics and the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. According to Hirschfeld, an economics rooted in Thomistic thought integrates many of the insights of economists with a larger view of the good life, and gives us critical purchase on the ethical shortcomings of modern capitalism. In a Thomistic approach, she writes, ethics and economics cannot be reconciled if we begin with narrow questions about fair wages or the acceptability of usury. Rather, we must begin with an understanding of how economic life serves human happiness. The key point is that material wealth is an instrumental good, valuable only to the extent that it allows people to flourish. Hirschfeld uses that insight to develop an account of a genuinely humane economy in which pragmatic and material concerns matter but the pursuit of wealth for its own sake is not the ultimate goal. The Thomistic economics that Hirschfeld outlines is thus capable of dealing with our culture as it is, while still offering direction about how we might make the economy better serve the human good.--

The Market as God
The Market as God

Author: Harvey Cox

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2016-09-12

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 0674973151

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“Essential and thoroughly engaging...Harvey Cox’s ingenious sense of how market theology has developed a scripture, a liturgy, and sophisticated apologetics allow us to see old challenges in a remarkably fresh light.” —E. J. Dionne, Jr. We have fallen in thrall to the theology of supply and demand. According to its acolytes, the Market is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. It can raise nations and ruin households, and comes complete with its own doctrines, prophets, and evangelical zeal. Harvey Cox brings this theology out of the shadows, demonstrating that the way the world economy operates is shaped by a global system of values that can be best understood as a religion. Drawing on biblical sources and the work of social scientists, Cox points to many parallels between the development of Christianity and the Market economy. It is only by understanding how the Market reached its “divine” status that can we hope to restore it to its proper place as servant of humanity. “Cox argues that...we are now imprisoned by the dictates of a false god that we ourselves have created. We need to break free and reclaim our humanity.” —Forbes “Cox clears the space for a new generation of Christians to begin to develop a more public and egalitarian politics.” —The Nation

He Became Poor
He Became Poor

Author: Christopher A. Franks

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2009-04-06

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 0802837484

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The only comprehensive theological treatment of Aquinas and economic theory. / Drawing on the views of Thomas Aquinas, this book challenges the modern economic tendency toward the "proprietary self" and calls for a renewed and timely appreciation of the virtues of trusting receptivity and humble awareness of our membership in a larger order. Christopher Franks reveals how the summons to become poor bestows a new intelligibility on formerly obscure economic teachings. In the course of his discussion Franks juxtaposes Aquinas with Aristotle, John Locke, and Alasdair MacIntyre. / He Became Poor not only makes a provocative case for taking Aquinas's thoughts on economics more seriously, but also illustrates how the very market conditions of the modern world cloud any attempt to fully understand Aquinas. Franks proffers a convincing argument that questioning market-formed assumptions can actually help us recover the evangelical character of Aquinas's ethics. / Drawing deeply on the views of Thomas Aquinas, He Became Poor challenges the modern economic tendency toward the proprietary self and calls for a renewed appreciation of the virtues of trusting receptivity and humble awareness of our membership in a larger benevolent order. Christopher Franks reveals how the summons to become poor bestows a new intelligibility on formerly obscure economic teachings. In the course of his discussion Franks juxtaposes Aquinas with Aristotle, John Locke, and Alasdair MacIntyre. / This book makes a provocative case for taking Aquinas s thoughts on economics more seriously and illustrates how the very market conditions of the modern world cloud any attempt to fully understand Aquinas. Franks offers a convincing argument that questioning market-formed assumptions can actually help us recover the evangelical character of Aquinas s ethics. / With a style as lucid as it is engaging, Christopher Franks probes by way of an astute interpretation of Aquinas s economic teachings an old revolutionary proposal Christian poverty. This Christ-configured economics is surpassingly relevant as global capitalism is faced with a cataclysmic collapse. The greatest praise I can give this book is that its author has learned much from Dominicans past and present not least from Thomas Aquinas so much indeed that He Became Poor is suffused with the true spirit of Dominican poverty. We have much to learn from this important work. Reinhard Htter / Duke Divinity School

Thomas Aquinas on God and Evil
Thomas Aquinas on God and Evil

Author: Brian Davies

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-08-24

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 0199831459

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Brian Davies offers the first in-depth study of Saint Thomas Aquinas's thoughts on God and evil, revealing that Aquinas's thinking about God and evil can be traced through his metaphysical philosophy, his thoughts on God and creation, and his writings about Christian revelation and the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation. Davies first gives an introduction to Aquinas's philosophical theology, as well as a nuanced analysis of the ways in which Aquinas's writings have been considered over time. For hundreds of years scholars have argued that Aquinas's views on God and evil were original and different from those of his contemporaries. Davies shows that Aquinas's views were by modern standards very original, but that in their historical context they were more traditional than many scholars since have realized. Davies also provides insight into what we can learn from Aquinas's philosophy. Thomas Aquinas on God and Evil is a clear and engaging guide for anyone who struggles with the relation of God and theology to the problem of evil.

The Second-Person Perspective in Aquinas’s Ethics
The Second-Person Perspective in Aquinas’s Ethics

Author: Andrew Pinsent

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-18

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 1136479147

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Thomas Aquinas devoted a substantial proportion of his greatest works to the virtues. Yet, despite the availability of these texts (and centuries of commentary), Aquinas’s virtue ethics remains mysterious, leaving readers with many unanswered questions. In this book, Pinsent argues that the key to understanding Aquinas’s approach is to be found in an association between: a) attributes he appends to the virtues, and b) interpersonal capacities investigated by the science of social cognition, especially in the context of autistic spectrum disorder. The book uses this research to argue that Aquinas’s approach to the virtues is radically non-Aristotelian and founded on the concept of second-person relatedness. To demonstrate the explanatory power of this principle, Pinsent shows how the second-person perspective gives interpretation to Aquinas’s descriptions of the virtues and offers a key to long-standing problems, such as the reconciliation of magnanimity and humility. The principle of second-person relatedness also interprets acts that Aquinas describes as the fruition of the virtues. Pinsent concludes by considering how this approach may shape future developments in virtue ethics.

Lessons from Aquinas
Lessons from Aquinas

Author: Creighton Rosental

Publisher: Mercer University Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0881462535

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Thomas Aquinas has long been understood to have reconciled faith and reason. Typically, he is understood as having provided justification for faith by means of proof, particularly, that the Five Ways prove the existence of God. Under this interpretation, faith becomes a species of justified belief, and the justification for faith rests upon the success of the Five Ways (or, alternatively, on the success of other justificatory evidence). In this book, Creighton Rosental argues that Aquinas¿s account of faith is not one of justified belief, at least as it is understood in contemporary philosophy. Instead, Rosental argues, faith has its own basis for epistemic ¿reasonableness¿ ¿ a reasonableness that does not derive from ordinary evidence or proof. Rather than requiring evidence accessible to the natural light of reason, Aquinas holds that faith has its own sort of ¿evidence¿¿that which results from the light of faith. Aquinas ¿Aristotelianizes¿ faith and argues that faith has the Aristotelian epistemic virtue of certitude, and in so doing reconciles faith and Aristotelian reason, at least as Aristotle was understood by Medieval philosophers. This reconciliation resolves important tensions between Aristotelian science and Christian doctrine. Further, Rosental examines three contemporary accounts of what counts as an epistemically ¿responsible¿ belief (namely, justified belief, practical rationality, and warrant) and argue that under Aquinas¿s account, faith should be counted as rational, and in an important, though modified sense, as justified. Rosental¿s book is an erudite and accessible reading of this most fundamental issue in Thomistic studies.