Aristotle's Critique of Political Economy: With a Contemporary Application

242 Pages·2018·4.289 MB·English

by  Robert L. Gallagher

Routledge Studies in the History of Economics
ARISTOTLE'S CRITIQUE OF
POLITICAL ECONOMY
WITH A CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION
Robert L. Gallagher
Aristotle’s Critique of
Political Economy
This book presents a positive account of Aristotle’s theory of political economy,
arguing that it contains elements that may help us better understand and resolve
contemporary social and economic problems.
The book considers how Aristotle’s work has been utilized by scholars
including Marx, Polanyi, Rawls, Nussbaum and Sen to develop solutions to
the problem of injustice. It then goes on to present a new Social Welfare Func-
tion (SWF) as an application of Aristotle’s theory. In exploring how Aristotle’s
theories can be applied to contemporary social welfare analysis, the book offers
a study that will be of relevance to scholars of the history of economic thought,
political theory and the philosophy of economics.
Robert L. Gallagher is Director of the Eudemian Institute and Honorary
Research Associate at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University
of Belgrade, Serbia. Dr Gallagher lives in Lebanon.
Routledge Studies in the History of Economics
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/series/
SE0341
200 Economic Analyses in Historical Perspective
Edited by José Luís Cardoso, Heinz D. Kurz, Philippe Steiner
201 Lionel Robbins on the Principles of Economic Analysis
The 1930s Lectures
Authored by Lionel Robbins
Edited by Susan Howson
202 The Foundations of Political Economy and Social Reform
Economy and Society in Eighteenth Century France
Ryuzo Kuroki and Yusuke Ando
203 Asia and the History of the International Economy
Essays in Memory of Peter Mathias
Edited by A. J. H. Latham and Heita Kawakatsu
204 The Economic Thought of Henry Calvert Simons
Crown Prince of the Chicago School
G. R. Steele
205 The Economic Thought of William Petty
Exploring the Colonialist Roots of Economics
Hugh Goodacre
206 Greed in the History of Political Economy
The Role of Self-Interest in Shaping Modern Economics
Rudi Verburg
207 Aristotle’s Critique of Political Economy
With a Contemporary Application
Robert L. Gallagher
Aristotle’s Critique of
Political Economy
With a Contemporary Application
Robert L. Gallagher
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
 2018 Robert L. Gallagher
The right of Robert L. Gallagher to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-64471-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-62865-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
To Catherine

Contents
List of figures ix
List of tables xi
Foreword xii
Preface xiv
Acknowledgements xv
List of abbreviations xviii
General introduction 1
PART I
Post-Enlightenment Aristotelian theorists of
political economy 5
1 Karl Marx: “The Aristotle of the nineteenth century” 7
2 Karl Polanyi 16
3 John Rawls 38
4 Amartya Sen 54
5 Martha Nussbaum 66
PART II
Aristotle’s critique of political economy 75
6 The metaphysical foundations of Aristotle’s critique
of political economy 77
7 Living well versus mere living: the bifurcation of
the community 89
viii Contents
8 Incommensurability and Aristotle’s theory of value 110
9 Reciprocity and reciprocal justice 132
10 Grace in Aristotle’s theory of exchange 153
PART III
Contemporary application 163
Social welfare analysis: theory
11 The state of social welfare analysis 165
12 Derivation of an Aristotelian Social Welfare Function 170
PART IV
Contemporary application 177
Social welfare analysis: results
13 Estimating values of an Aristotelian Social Welfare
Function 179
14 Quantitative studies in an Aristotelian Social Welfare
Function 183
Conclusion 196
Bibliography 200
Index of passages 210
Greek index 214
Name index 216
Subject index 218
Figures

3.1 Rawls’ figure illustrating the difference principle 47
3.2 Modification of Figure 3.1 to represent transaction
benefiting lesser party (proposed by Aristotle) 48
14.1 Ratio of income and consumption share of the lowest
Q
quintile of the population to the highest ( 5), for Ukraine,
Q
1988–2013 1 183
14.2 Ratio of income and consumption share of the lowest
Q
quintile of the population to the highest ( 5), and
Q
1
GDP per capita (constant 2005 dollars), for Ecuador,
1994–2012 184
14.3 Ratio of income and consumption share of the lowest
quintile of the population to the highest (Q5), and
Q
1
GDP per capita (constant 2005 dollars), for Thailand,
1981–2013 185
14.4 Ratio of income and consumption share of the lowest
quintile of the population to the highest (Q5), and
Q
1
GDP per capita (constant 2005 dollars), for Iran, 1986–2013 185
14.5 Ratio of income and consumption share of the lowest
Q
quintile of the population to the highest ( 5), and
Q
1
GDP per capita (constant 2005 dollars), for the USA,
1967–2014 186
14.6 Ratio of income and consumption share of the lowest
Q
quintile of the population to the highest ( 5), and
Q
1
GDP per capita (constant 2005 dollars), for Germany,
1989–2010 186
14.7 Ratio of the income and consumption share of the four
lower quintiles of the population to the highest quintile ( 1 -1),
Q
for Ukraine, 1988–2013 1 187