Abstract
Human capital is a popular category on several levels. On the one hand, it is common in the everyday language of business and politics. On the other hand, it is and has been the subject of theoretical reflections, both in economics and in philosophy and social sciences. The aim of this article is to analyse the internal logic of this category from one of its key elements: the duality of income. First, the article analyses the monetary return on human capital (the first type of income), of which the wage is its clearest representation. Second, the psychic return to human capital (the second type of income) is analysed, as well as one of its main historical influences: Irving Fisher’s theory of capital. Finally, the general logic of human capital returns is analysed in relation to the anthropological assumptions of the theories.
Codes JEL: B21, B13, J24, J30.