Justice in Exchange: the Economic Philosophy of John Duns Scotus

Abstract

I review the contributions to Scholastic economic philosophy made by Duns Scotus in the Opus Oxoniense, showing that Duns Scotus makes considerable advances in the understanding of exchange, the legitimization of trade, and the development of the Church's traditional teaching on usury. I then apply the principles developed by Duns Scotus concerning the nature of justice to explore modern controversies in theology over the nature of debt, equality, and economic growth. I argue that it is possible to identify a route through which a Scotist economics might be developed, suggesting that this would place a greater value on normative analysis than is the case in neoclassical economics and assist communication between economists and theologians.

Keywords: John Duns Scotus, exchange, economics, justice, philosophy, Scholastics, usury

JEL Classification: A13 ,B11 ,B31