TY - JOUR
T1 - On Aristotle’s natural limit
AU - Desroches, C. Tyler
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was partially supported by a scholarship (SFRH / BD / 31362 / 2006) granted by the Funda¸cão para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). The authors are solely responsible for the content of this publication. It does not represent the opinion of FCT, which is not responsible for any use that might be made of data appearing therein.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 by Duke University Press.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Among scholars of ancient economic thought, it is widely recognized that Aristotle established an upper limit to money-making. This “natural limit” has been variously construed, with some claiming that it might be settled independently of Aristotle’s ethical theory. This essay defends the contrary thesis: Aristotle’s natural limit is inextricably tied to his account of human flourishing. I also argue that, for Aristotle, a human life committed to money-making is incompatible with achieving eudaimonia. Why? For Aristotle, money-making as an end in itself is endemic to the life of pleasure, not the good life. Moreover, the unchecked pursuit of evermore money is likely to crowd out other intrinsically valuable goods, such as friendship, agency, and autonomy. Finally, from the standpoint of Aristotle’s virtue ethics, wealth acquisition beyond the natural limit is considered to be a vice, not a virtue.
AB - Among scholars of ancient economic thought, it is widely recognized that Aristotle established an upper limit to money-making. This “natural limit” has been variously construed, with some claiming that it might be settled independently of Aristotle’s ethical theory. This essay defends the contrary thesis: Aristotle’s natural limit is inextricably tied to his account of human flourishing. I also argue that, for Aristotle, a human life committed to money-making is incompatible with achieving eudaimonia. Why? For Aristotle, money-making as an end in itself is endemic to the life of pleasure, not the good life. Moreover, the unchecked pursuit of evermore money is likely to crowd out other intrinsically valuable goods, such as friendship, agency, and autonomy. Finally, from the standpoint of Aristotle’s virtue ethics, wealth acquisition beyond the natural limit is considered to be a vice, not a virtue.
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U2 - 10.1215/00182702-2796197
DO - 10.1215/00182702-2796197
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84907141354
SN - 0018-2702
VL - 46
SP - 387
EP - 407
JO - History of Political Economy
JF - History of Political Economy
IS - 3
ER -