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The Economic Theory of the Scholastics as a Contractual Analysis

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  • Trifilio Sylvain

    (ICES, La Roche-sur-Yon, France)

Abstract

The doctrine of the “just price” is more than often described as the core of the “economic” thinking of the Scholastics (de Roover 1958; Baldwin 1959; Wilson 1975; Worland 1977). In fact, one could hardly contest that the notion occupies a place of high importance in the economic reflections of the Medieval Doctors. It is of no doubt that their study of economic reality led them to call up very frequently the said notion of “just price”. Yet the insistence with which modern historiography has itself treated this – central but particular – element of the Scholastic economic thinking conceals, to our opinion, some of its important sights and interests. An “objective” approach of the scholastic theory seems to command such an interpretation. But why is the phrase “just price” so often used and developed by the Doctors? Such a simple question cannot be answered simply by focusing on the notion. From a more “methodological” point of view, just price appears only like the final result of a complex argumentation. Little attention has been given to the fact that (1) the issue at stake is less a problem of correctness in limited bargaining than a general question of social justice; (2) the method used to deal with this vast subject in the field of economic relations is a systematic “contractual” analysis. The second point forms the main theme of this paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Trifilio Sylvain, 2018. "The Economic Theory of the Scholastics as a Contractual Analysis," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 24(1), pages 1-6, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:jeehcn:v:24:y:2018:i:1:p:6:n:4
    DOI: 10.1515/jeeh-2018-0005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. de Roover, Raymond, 1958. "The Concept of the Just Price: Theory and Economic Policy," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 418-434, December.
    2. Raymond de Roover, 1955. "Scholastic Economics: Survival and Lasting Influence from the Sixteenth Century to Adam Smith," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 69(2), pages 161-190.
    3. Raymond de Roover, 1951. "Monopoly Theory Prior to Adam Smith: A Revision," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 65(4), pages 492-524.
    4. Barry Gordon, 1975. "Economic Analysis before Adam Smith," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-02116-1, March.
    5. Jeffrey T. Young, 1997. "Economics as a Moral Science," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 842, June.
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