Thinking about State and Economy before Smith:

Thinking about State and Economy before Smith: The Ancients, Virtue, and the Common Good

READINGS:

· Plato,The Republic.

· Look over the whole book. . . but don’t panic: we’re not going to read it all.  Instead, search through the entire book (use the search feature, of course!) for the word “money” and tell from that evidence what Plato’s attitude towards the getting of money was.

· Aristotle,Politics, Book I, sections 8-11; Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book I, sections 6-11 (On Happiness); Book II, sections 6-7 (on virtue as a mean); Book V, section 5 (on justice in exchange).

· Cicero,di Officiis(On Duties).  http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Officiis/home.html . Book I, 42 [compare Plato and Aristotle!]; Book III, 12-15 on gain and fraud in markets (these numbers refer to the small numbers that look like footnotes).

· Christian Perspectives.

· St. Paul (Paul of Tarsus), 2 Thessalonians 3:6  http://www.usccb.org/bible/2thessalonians/3

· The Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5, 6, 7  http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5 ;  http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/6 ;  http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/7

Paper prompt 2 (due June 2) :Based on the readings, what was the attitude of the ancient world towards money and the economy? What does the Christian religious tradition say about work, markets, rewards?  Compare it with your own tradition.  (E.g. Holy Koran, Hebrew Bible, Hindu texts.). Does money create happiness or contribute to a virtuous life?