Economics and Ethics: Juan de Lugo's Theory of the Just Price, or the Responsibility of Living in Society

Abstract

This paper will ascertain the theory of the just price, according to Juan de Lugo (1583–1660), the last great representative of the Scholastics. First we will draw up Lugo's “vision” of the just price, stressing the anthropological, moral, and legal foundations and emphasizing the theory's coherence; the relevant issue is that such a price theory would contain its own principle of intelligibility. Second, we will point out the role of this theory in preventing economic compulsion. This approach could help us to draw upon the moral and economic responsibility of human beings living in society and how this vision differs greatly from neoclassical homo economicus.