The Legacy of Scholasticism in Economic Thought : Antecedents of Choice and Power (Historical Perspectives on Modern Economics)

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Summary: Economic Ethics: Medieval Presence and Modern Absence
Review: Odd Langholm explores the place of moral responsibility in ancient and particularly medieval economic thinking. The author describes the pre-modern demands for ethical exchange made by cultural critics from Aristotle to Aquinas as a foil to understanding the lack of concern with ethical practice in contemporary economics. He offers a historically resonant critique of modern constructions of the free individual on which rational choice theory depends. His polemic, embedded in deep humanistic learning, deserves an audience. Cambridge University Press executives should read their own books. Perhaps then they would not produce over-priced, short print runs which put profit before the educational mission expected of a university press. The cost of this book, not its discourse, makes it inaccessible.