The formation of feudalism had its own peculiarities in each country. A common feature was the seizure of communal land and the creation of estates belonging to noble feudal lords. There was a consolidation in private ownership of land and workers - serfs who were, in addition to their allotments, to cultivate the land of the feudal lord. The economic thoughts of the Middle Ages developed, unlike Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, with great difficulty. There is an explanation for this - the Catholic Church has become the successor to the ideas of Greek and Roman philosophy and economics.
The Formation of Economic Doctrines in the Middle Ages
Representations of the economic thought of the Middle Ages have come down to our time thanks to written sources. They are based on the works of thinkers of the Ancient World. In order to better understand the process of the origin and development of economic thought in the Middle Ages, it is necessary to take into account the political and economic state of the state.
The very concept of “economic thought” encompasses a vast range of views and opinions. This includes the ideas of ordinary citizens, the religious view with its influence on economic relations, the work of outstanding scientists of that time and the political, economic laws of the ruling elite. To understand how economic thought was formed in the Middle Ages, it is necessary to begin with the Ancient World, since these eras are inextricably linked. Historians consider the economic thought of the Middle Ages as part of theology, since along with the nobility the clergy controlled the state and relations within society.
Ancient world
The technical equipment of the primitive society was primitive and so low that a person could not always feed himself and his family members. People were forced to live in a community, since one family was not able to exist. Talking about economic thoughts in this period of development of society does not make sense, since there was only one thought - to survive. The economic thought of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages began to emerge at the junction of these historical eras, during the period of the emergence of classes and the formation of states.
The emergence of classes
After the beginning of the use of iron and the appearance of tools from it, labor productivity increased several times, surpluses appeared, which is usually called an additional product, which a person could use at his discretion. It was the iron tools that led to the appearance of artisans who did not cultivate the land and did not sow bread, but always had it.
Craftsmen made goods, the use of which allowed farmers to collect a larger crop and improve the quality of life. Commodity relations began to appear. In addition to artisans, people appeared who were engaged in science, art. In short, the economic thought of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages arose precisely at the time when commodity-money relations began to appear under total subsistence farming.
There was a division of society into classes, the poor and rich appeared, who wanted to get even more goods, products. They needed to appropriate other people's excesses. For this, a certain mechanism of violence was needed. The state began to emerge.
The emergence of the first states
The stratification of society into classes, the emergence of the nobility, the decomposition of the community led to the formation of states. The emergence of various forms of ownership: community, state and private. This is what made people think, compare, analyze, which led to the emergence of judgments, which became the basis of economic thoughts of the Middle Ages. A characteristic feature of the ancient states was slavery. The origin of early civilizations and the appearance of the first states occurred in territories with a hot climate, mainly in areas with fertile soil and water. These were river valleys: the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates, the Ganges.
Monuments of ancient economic thought
Ancient Egyptian documents have survived to our time: “The instruction of the king of Heracles to his son Merikar” (XXII century BC), “The River Ipuser” (XVIII century BC), Code of Laws of Babylon (XVIII century BC. ) The issues of state organization and governance, usury, protection of property rights, bribery, corruption, the reasons for the reduction of tax revenues to the treasury, the rules of rent and hiring, etc.
The economic thought of ancient China
Confucius is a Chinese thinker who lived in 551-479 BC. e. He said that only calm and hard work brings wealth to the inhabitants of the state, as well as prosperity to the ruler and the country. Labor must be supported by family and community. The thinker attached great importance to the latter. He considered the patriarchal family to be the basis of a stable socio-political system. The main task of the ruling elite is the prosperity of the population, the distribution of agricultural work, a reasonable limit of taxes. An important role was assigned to the nobility and believed that the state should take care of it.
The authors of the collective treatise "Guan-zy" (IV - III century BC) attributed all material wealth to wealth. Gold, as a measure of wealth, was assigned the role of money. The main thing for the country's prosperity is labor and tranquility in order to produce products. To do this, the state needs to regulate the price of bread. For its development it is necessary to have sufficient stocks of bread, to give farmers soft loans at a low interest rate.
Antiquity
In short, the economic thought of the Middle Ages used the basic principles of ancient thinkers, in particular antique ones. In the days of the slave system, as in the subsequent forms of states, there were two main economic goals - to collect as many taxes as possible and the fight against the thieves of the treasury (embezzlers). Concepts appeared such as money, goods, the use of moral and material incentives to increase the productivity of slaves. The thinkers were greatly interested in the structure of the state and its control.
Along with the existing communal property, private and state property arose. Public relations have changed. The economic thought of Antiquity and the Middle Ages is closely related, since many economic laws and concepts of Ancient Greece were subsequently used by the Catholic Church and its thinkers.
Xenophon (430-354 BCE)
The founder of ancient economic thought was Xenophon, who for the first time in his treatise Domostroy used the term “economy”. He meant the science of housekeeping. The thinker studied the division of labor, described two properties of the product, in terms of consumer and exchange value. Defined two functions of money - the means of accumulation and circulation.
Plato (428-347 BC)
In his work, "State" Plato described the project of the ideal structure of the country, in which he assigned an important role to aristocrats and the military. They, having no property, are on the security of the state to which it belongs. The philosopher is critical of private property, on which, in his opinion, an acceptable maximum should be set. Everything that profits beyond this is confiscated in favor of the state. The most important branch of the economy is agriculture.
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
In two of his main works, Politics and Nikomakh's Ethics describe the structure of an ideal state. Its purpose is the common good of the inhabitants. He had a positive attitude towards slavery, defining slaves as an instrument of labor. Society, in his opinion, should be divided into slaves and free citizens. Labor is mental and physical. Each estate applies certain methods of managing, using its own savings.
Economic activities considered agriculture, craft and small trade. They are regarded as an object of state concern. Wealth is acquired in two ways: natural activity (economic) and unnatural (chrematistics). Usury and large trade attributed to chrematistics.
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages was characterized by a great influence of the church on the state. Aristotle's ideas on economics were put in a tight dogma. Laws in the church were called canons, with the help of which medieval economic thought was expressed. Philosophical reflections on the economy were replaced by theological and canonical statements, which did not require proof and understanding. This applies to both European and Asian countries where Islam reigned.
European Middle Ages
An essential feature of the Middle Ages is the dominance of the church in the management of the feudal states of Europe and in their economic life. Despite church conservatism, a negative attitude to everything new, it was theologians who put forward the teachings in which the main episodes of economic life were reflected: the relations between subjects, their driving forces, the main points of the creation and distribution of goods.
Thomas Aquinas
A significant author of the economic thought of the Middle Ages is Thomas Aquinas (XIII century). He was an Italian monk. His treatise The Sum of Theologies is a one-of-a-kind work in which all economic categories of the Middle Ages are evaluated - moral and ethical. He was a member of the Canon School founded by St. Augustine in the 5th century.
The early canonists were opposed to profit and usurious interest, considering it a sin, as a result of the appropriation of another's labor. They were in favor of fixing fixed fair prices. They opposed trade in large volumes. Negative about the loan.
The methodical guidelines for them were the texts of the Holy Scriptures. They related to economic characteristics in terms of moral and ethical standards. The late canonists, to whom F. Aquinas belonged, added to these principles the principle of duality of estimates. Briefly, the economic thought of the Middle Ages can be formulated:
- The division of labor, in their understanding, is the divine providence by means of which there was a class division and a person’s tendency to a particular profession.
- Fair prices, as understood by the representative of the economic thought of the European Middle Ages F. Aquinas, are the prices established by the feudal nobility in the territory subordinate to them. This dogma replaced the concept of market price.
- Wealth, from the point of view of the early canonists, is a sin, but already F. Aquinas claims that under the influence of “fair prices” accumulation of moderate wealth is possible, which is no longer a sin.
- Condemning the commercial profits and usurious interest rejected by the early canonists, F. Aquinas condemns, but on the condition that the revenues were not an end in themselves, but acted as a well-deserved payment for costs, which included risk.
- It does not recognize money in terms of obtaining usurious interest, but it recognizes it as a medium of exchange and a measure of value.
Muslim Middle Ages
Feudal states originally arose in the East (III-VIII centuries), their appearance in Western Europe occurred two centuries later (V-IX centuries). Power in the states of the Middle Ages was concentrated in the hands of large feudal lords and clergy. They condemned usury and economic marketability. A significant representative of the economic thought of the Muslim Middle Ages is Ibn-Khaldun (XIV century), who lived in the Maghreb, located in northern Africa. Since the 7th century, Islam has spread here. As in European countries, the clergy, along with the nobility, took an active part in the life of Muslim countries and influenced their economic development.
According to a number of specific features, the economic thought of the European Middle Ages differed from the Asian one. This was due to the fact that trade in Asian countries was always respected and believed that this type of activity was pleasing to God. Even the Prophet Muhammad was originally engaged in this type of activity. The state reserved significant land, the collection of burdensome taxes.
Ibn Khaldun suggested that the heyday of all types of economic activity would lead to the heyday of the state. His attitude to taxes was that he believed that the lower the taxes, the more prosperous the state would be. He respected money and believed that it was a very important element of life. They should be exclusively made of gold and silver. But the most important thing in the doctrine is its statement that the evolution of society should go from primitiveness to civilization.