Acquisition and Anxiety: Aristotle's Case against the Market

This article argues that Aristotle's economic writings contain an intelligible and forceful case against market exchange. His position is based on the incompatibility of market activity and human virtue due to market-generated anxiety about livelihood and the concomitant destruction of the possibility of friendship and citizenship. It also suggests how the prevailing view of the irrelevance of Aristotle's economic ideas to contemporary concerns may be in part due to the difficulty of submitting to the standards required by non-market exchange. We all see good reason not to do business with friends. Angoisse et mode d'acquisition: I'argumentation d'Aristote contre le marche. Ce memoire suggere que les ecrits economiques d'Aristote contiennent une argumentation intelligible et puissante contre l'echange marchand. Cette argumentation est fondee sur l'incompatibilite de l'activite marchande et de la vertu humaine, incompatibilite engendree par l'angoisse face a la necessite de s'assurer les moyens de subsistence que ce mode d'acquisition entraine et par la destruction qui s'ensuit de la possibilite d'amitie ou d'esprit civique. Cet article suggere aussi que les vues qui ont cours sur l'inapplicabilite des idees economiques d'Aristote dans les questions contemporaines peuvent s'expliquer en partie par la difficulte de s'ajuster aux normes requises par l'echange non-marchand. Nous voyons tous de bonnes raisons pour ne pas transiger avec nos amis. Aristotle's economic ideas continue to attract the interest of contemporary scholars. Yet in summarizing much of the English language work of the past few decades on these economic ideas, G.W. Wilson claims that not even Aristotle's staunchest admirers believe that his ideas are relevant to an understanding of contemporary economics (1975, 57). There are two rather different bases for this judgment of irrelevance. The first is the presumption that Aristotle was attempting an analysis of market exchange and made so little headway that his results are of only historical interest.1 The second arises from the view 1 For example this is the position held by Joseph Schumpeter (1954, 60-5). Shortly thereafter Karl Polanyi (1957, n. 59) notes the widespread acceptance of this market interpretation (an interpretation not shared by Polanyi) and cites J.J. Spengler's then very recent work (1955) as the only other exception to the market interpretation. Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'Economique, XI, no. 1 February/f6vrier 1978. Printed in Canada/Imprime au Canada. 0008-4085/78/0000-0069 $01.50/OCanadian Economics Association This content downloaded from 157.55.39.114 on Mon, 25 Apr 2016 04:59:04 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms