Answer to Question #178565 in Economics for Lukyamuzi Jude

Question

Contrast and compare Plato,Aristotle,and st. thomas aquinas on the desirability of private property

Answer 1

Plato and Aristotle, lived in the polis, belonged to the upper strata of society, which could not but affect their views. These philosophers paid special attention to the justice of the emergence of the right to property, especially the emergence of the right to private property.

Aristotle, identifying property with property, wrote: "... property we call everything, the value of which is measured by money." The content of property relations was revealed to him through the concepts of use and ownership. "Use," Aristotle believed, "is, apparently, a waste and giving of property, and acquisition and saving is, rather, possession ..."

Plato, Aristotle's teacher, had opposite views on property. Plato reveals the concept of property through the triad of the owner's powers: the rights of ownership, use and disposal. He pays special attention to the principle of inviolability of property: "Let no one, as far as possible, touch my property, since there is no permission for that and I will also treat someone else's property as long as I am in my right mind."

Like Aristotle, Plato distinguishes two forms of property: private and general. But, unlike his student, he is rather negative about private property. He believed that in an ideal state there should be common property, since private property is the cause of property disputes and strife among people. In contrast to private property, common property helps to reduce discord among people. Plato also has a negative attitude towards wealth. In this regard, he proposes limiting the size of property, the purpose of which is to maintain a balance between citizens.

Unlike animals, says Thomas, man is obliged to work for his existence. The goals of labor are to satisfy needs, to eliminate idleness, and to charity. But the individual cannot satisfy all his needs on his own. Therefore, God established the division of labor and many different specialties. Labor in its specialty is serving God. Slavery is justified only because someone has to do hard work, but by nature a slave is a person. All people are equal among themselves, Thomas repeats the words of Seneca. He does not condemn private property in principle. But the owner must remember that he is only the manager of the property that belongs to everyone. Ownership of property requires charity. At the same time, Thomas was well aware that property is an incentive to work and that a society of owners always wants peace and order.