Agency, exchange, and power in scholastic thought

Analysis risk and commercial risk: the first treatment of usury in Thomas Aquinas’sCommentary on the Sentences

“…Although we here find reference to the borrower's state of necessity and conditioned will, drawing from Aristotle (Sturn [2017], p. 655), it should however be noted that the words quamdam and simpliciter entail important nuances. Aquinas seeks a moral exemption for the borrower, but he departs from the tradition of the Fathers, as represented by William of Auxerre who sees in the loan the systematic oppression of the poor, who are subject to constraint, and adopts a social approach to usury: "Usury is directly against charity [dare ad usuram directe est contra caritatem]" (William of Auxerre, Summa Aurea, III, XLVIII, c. 1, q.…”

“…6), which corresponds well to the legal prescriptions of Gratian and Gregory IX. Aquinas insists on the universality of condemnation (ab omnibus; communiter) and on its moral dimension (mortal sin), and in this respect does not differ from the other scholastics whose economic contributions fall within a theological or canonical framework (Sturn [2017], p. 640). 24 His attention to the justice of the operation is rooted in his moral philosophy and his theology of the virtues and the ultimate end (Franks [2009], pp.…”

“…It is notable, however, that Aquinas is not talking about pricing, which establishes the value of a thing at a monetary price, but rather about money as a measure of utility. If we follow Aquinas, then, the transformation of value into price and the establishment of the "just price" that facilitates trade by ensuring a social order (Sturn [2017], p. 646), since they are monetary, are therefore based on a criterion of utility.…”

“…• the nature of the partners' commitment, freedom and responsibility through the notion of the conditioned will (Langholm [1984], [1992] and [1998]; Ege [2014]; Sturn [2017]);…”

Joel Mokyr’sA Culture of Growth: a book roundtable

“…(1) The history of science literature (see e.g., Harrison 2002;Henry 2008Henry , 2009Lovejoy 1936) stresses the importance of controversial debates (between voluntarists and intellectualists or between nominalists and "essentialists") for the empirical and quantitative turn, which evenually led to the emergence of modern science. To a lesser extent, this applies also to the history of political theory and socio-economic thought (see Schneewind 1998, Pribram 1949, Sturn 2017, and Weber 1959. In addition, one could mention the heterogenous and indeed quite distinct roots of the thought of the Scholastic period, including Aristotelian thought, Roman Law and Christian Patristic influences, giving rise to new combinations in the sphere of mental models, which perhaps are an early example of the kind of European openness stressed by Mokyr, apart from the role of those developments in bringing about development in the sphere of norms and institutions, which may be important for the development of the market society, such as contract law and individual rights (see e.g., Decock 2012 and Vaarkema 2011).…”