Aquinas reconciled his Christian principles with his favorable attitude to property by arguing that private property as not only being natural to the worldly order but also beneficial as compared to holding property in common as people are better stewards when they own the property privately. In the Summa Theologica, Aquinas is of the opinion that while the nature of property is in the control of God, the use of this property is under the dominion of men, and that “by his reason and will, he is able to use them for his own profit.” (Aquinas, 1981, II-II, Q66, A1) Aquinas (1981, II-II, Q66, A2) also elaborates that possessing property is “necessary to human life” for three reasons. The first reason is that there is an incentive for people to
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Aquinas (1981, II-II, Q77) viewed transactions favorably, identifying that trade brings about mutual benefit. Aquinas does distinguish between prices that are ‘Just’ and those that are not. Aquinas seemed to have proposed several ideas with regard to what the Just Price might be. Aquinas firstly argues that just transactions must bring benefit to both parties and does not impose a burden on either. Aquinas (1981, II-II, Q77, A1) argues that there is “no longer the equality of justice” when the price of a good is higher that what a good is worth and that a transaction is unjust when the seller raises the price higher than what he values the good to be worth. Aquinas (1981, II-II, Q77, A1) says, “The just price will depend not only on the thing sold, but on the loss which the sale brings on the seller”. Here we see that the Just Price is specific to the situation the buyers and sellers find themselves in when performing the exchange where a Just exchange is an agreement between the two with an understanding of each other’s situation and the intention of upholding justice. Aquinas then gives the point that a seller should not charge the buyer a higher price due to the buyer’s need. Here, Aquinas seems to be of the opinion that the Just Price might not be the market-clearing price. Aquinas’s Just Price might not even be cost-covering price (Koehn & …show more content…
In the Noble Quran 2:275 (Translated by Abudllah Yusuf Ali), God calls for Muslims to engage in trade and rejects the idea that trade is forbidden. The Shariah has categorized prices to be either valid or invalid (Bashar, 1997). A valid price is a price that has been reached by the market that follows according to the legal rules of Shariah i.e. the price does not have any elements of any “deliberate attempt to cheat, defraud, obfuscate, lie, disguise or withhold relevant information.” (Bashar, 1997). A price does not need to be fair or just in order to be valid legally. An invalid price goes against the consensus reached in Islamic Law. An invalid price arises from a price that is a deliberate attempt of going against Islamic Law. Therefore, prices arising from coercion, bid rigging and the sale of a good that has asymmetric information between the buyer and seller are invalid. Once a price is established to be valid legally, the price then needs to be acceptable. Bashar (1997) states that “Acceptable valid prices are of two types: those which are free from any loopholes and distribute benefits and costs of exchange fairly and equitably; and, those with some loopholes but unlikely to cause disputes or conflicts among parties to exchange.” Therefore, an acceptable valid price should be ideally being as free
Aquinas (1981, II-II, Q77) viewed transactions favorably, identifying that trade brings about mutual benefit. Aquinas does distinguish between prices that are ‘Just’ and those that are not. Aquinas seemed to have proposed several ideas with regard to what the Just Price might be. Aquinas firstly argues that just transactions must bring benefit to both parties and does not impose a burden on either. Aquinas (1981, II-II, Q77, A1) argues that there is “no longer the equality of justice” when the price of a good is higher that what a good is worth and that a transaction is unjust when the seller raises the price higher than what he values the good to be worth. Aquinas (1981, II-II, Q77, A1) says, “The just price will depend not only on the thing sold, but on the loss which the sale brings on the seller”. Here we see that the Just Price is specific to the situation the buyers and sellers find themselves in when performing the exchange where a Just exchange is an agreement between the two with an understanding of each other’s situation and the intention of upholding justice. Aquinas then gives the point that a seller should not charge the buyer a higher price due to the buyer’s need. Here, Aquinas seems to be of the opinion that the Just Price might not be the market-clearing price. Aquinas’s Just Price might not even be cost-covering price (Koehn & …show more content…
In the Noble Quran 2:275 (Translated by Abudllah Yusuf Ali), God calls for Muslims to engage in trade and rejects the idea that trade is forbidden. The Shariah has categorized prices to be either valid or invalid (Bashar, 1997). A valid price is a price that has been reached by the market that follows according to the legal rules of Shariah i.e. the price does not have any elements of any “deliberate attempt to cheat, defraud, obfuscate, lie, disguise or withhold relevant information.” (Bashar, 1997). A price does not need to be fair or just in order to be valid legally. An invalid price goes against the consensus reached in Islamic Law. An invalid price arises from a price that is a deliberate attempt of going against Islamic Law. Therefore, prices arising from coercion, bid rigging and the sale of a good that has asymmetric information between the buyer and seller are invalid. Once a price is established to be valid legally, the price then needs to be acceptable. Bashar (1997) states that “Acceptable valid prices are of two types: those which are free from any loopholes and distribute benefits and costs of exchange fairly and equitably; and, those with some loopholes but unlikely to cause disputes or conflicts among parties to exchange.” Therefore, an acceptable valid price should be ideally being as free