Economic Ideas of the Renaissance era: philosophical analysis

Abstract

This article examines the economic views of the Renaissance philosophers. The socio-philosophical thought of this period raises the value and moral-ethical problems in economic sphere, as well as attempts to solve them. The subject of this research is the attitude towards the economic wealth of an individual and society. The goal is to reveal and structurize the economic ideas of the Renaissance philosophers. The relevance of this work lies in the overview of the philosophical concepts that reflect the economic ideas and value peculiarities of that time. Special attention is given to the development of foreign trade, which was accelerated by the Age of Discovery. The Renaissance era is complex phenomenon of human culture, where opens a new perspective upon articulation and solution of the old problems. For example, in discussing wealth and poverty, the philosophers raised the problem of social inequality, claiming the many people are poor not because they do not want to work, but because they were born to be poor. In this era, the bourgeois class, feudal lords and the highest royal nobility owned almost all lands, making it extremely difficult for ordinary people to become wealthy. This marked the “revolution” within the system of values, as well as in sociopolitical and economic spheres. Among the factors affecting the evolution of economic thought, the author indicates the problems of the development of economic activity and change in the subject area of economic tasks, both of which required a theoretical reflection. The author explores the solution of these tasks by different philosophers, as well as follows the evolution of the internal logic of economic views.