아리스토텔레스의 도덕적인 가계경제와 마르크스의 자본주의 생산경제

Abstract

This essay endeavors to show that Marx’s capitalist production economy is the inverse of Aristotle’s moral household economy as regards their concepts of money and production. Aristotle conceives as natural an economy which purports to acquire use values and serves for life and the good life, whereas he denounces as unnatural a monetary economy which seeks profit and indulges in luxury. Especially, he regards usury to be the most unnatural. Moreover, on his view, production does not exist for its own sake, but for action or use which aims at (the good) life. By contrast, Marx conceptualizes as natural a capitalist economy which produces commodities for profitable sale, and aims to create and realize value and surplus value. Profit-seeking by which Aristotle characterizes an unnatural economy becomes so entrenched in Marx’s capitalist economy that it hardens into the second nature of the economy. Moreover, he holds that the capitalist economy is very often fueled by luxury consumption. Furthermore, usury is the most mature and natural form of capital and consumption exists for production which aims at creation/realization of (surplus) value under the capitalist conditions. This corroborates the view that what is universally unnatural on Aristotle’s view is specifically natural to a capitalist society on Marx’s.