Review of Economic Philosophy

Tag: fairness

  • Wealth, Habits and Happiness. Chrematistics in Aristotle’s Ethics

    Abstract

    Aristotle considers a life dedicated to money-making not worth living, as it is subject to constraints and based on a perverse conception of wealth. However, he assigns money instrumental value as something indispensable to happiness, and acknowledges the presence of natural drives related to wealth in every agent. This article attempts to clarify Aristotle’s views as to what the function of wealth is in relation to a good life, what guarantees the correct use of riches, and how it is possible to promote the exercising of natural chrematistics in the face of the spread of perverse forms of the pursuit of gain.The article will then show which virtues are related to wealth – i.e. generosity, magnificence, and justice or fairness – and how they relate to the opposite vices – i.e. prodigality and meanness, extravagance and miserliness, and injustice or unfairness. The aim will be to explain why the Aristotelian investigation of good and bad habits related to the use of wealth is complementary to the investigation of the genesis of economic phenomena, and aimed at practically ensuring a chrematistics perfectly integrated into ethics and politics.

    JEL Code: B11.

    Keywords

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    [See the article on Cairn]

  • Measure and Characterization of the Attention to the Other in Strategic Interactions: The Contribution of the Experimental Economy

    Abstract

    In some contexts, the actual behaviors of individuals can appear as aberrant with rational agent-based theories. Behavioral theory tries to explain these anomalies, especially with respect to social preferences. The purpose of this paper is to show how experimental economics has provided an accurate measure and further characterization of these preferences. Based on a very selective review of experiments, we show how a fruitful dialogue has been established between behavior analysis in the laboratory and in theory.

    Keywords

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  • On the opposition between care and theories of justice: lessons of fair trade

    Abstract

    Fair trade invites us to re-examine relationships between care and theories of justice. Fair trade is described as a component of the “care” approach. At the same time, it rehabilitates particular justice (in Aristotelian terminology). Thus, it exemplifies the convergence of theories of justice and the ethics of care, provided that justice isn’t understood – and this is all too often the case – as a so-called general justice only. Therefore, particular justice enables us to envisage the articulation between justice and care in a different and more relevant way.

    Keywords

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    Code JEL: B11, B40, D63.