DOCSLIB.ORG

Economic Thought and Economic Fact in the Works of Xenophon

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Economic Thought and Economic Fact in the Works of Xenophon chapter twenty-one ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND ECONOMIC FACT IN THE WORKS OF XENOPHON Thomas J. Figueira It is my intention in this chapter to use Xenophon to explore our appre- ciation of classical Greek economic phenomena. The title of the original conference paper noted an emphasis on the Poroi or Ways and Means, but it proves impossible to investigate Greek economic conditions in practical iso- lation, as though illustrated by any single Xenophontic work. I shall employ as an initial point of departure another study of mine entitled ‘Xenophon and the Spartan Economy’, which was presented at a conference in Lyon in 2006,1 and will appear in a written version in due course.2 Naturally, throughout my discussion both of the data on Spartan subsistence that were provided by Xenophon and of Xenophon’s appreciation of this material, the counter-example, or, perhaps, the counter-image, of Athens had to be continually present. Hence, Spartan economic conditions and the Spartan Constitution perforce led back to the Poroi and to the Oeconomicus as well. As a means of approaching here some more general issues concerning eco- nomic phenomena in Xenophon, a useful line of ingress is provided by the works of Moses Finley, the most eminent historian of economies of classical antiquity during the later twentieth century. Introduction The opening section of my earlier paper was wryly entitled ‘Xenophon the Economist’, although, as I hastened to observe, Xenophon and his fth- and fourth-century contemporaries did not demonstrably possess the concept of an economy.3 I de ned this ‘economy’ as transcending ancient oikono- mia or ‘household management’: it conveyed ‘an awareness of a productive 1 Xénophon et Sparte: Colloque international. L’École Normale Supérieure, Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Lyon, July 2006. 2 Figueira (forthcoming). 3 In general, see Luccioni 1947: 69–107; Mossé 1975; Pomeroy 1994: 41–67. 666 thomas j. figueira apparatus, comprising a resource base and material assets and subsuming certain processes for conducting transactions between individuals’. For my purposes, mere comprehension of economic conditions and practical intel- ligence about how one’s livelihood was to be managed or achieved was not enough to demonstrate control of the concept of ‘economy’. We were look- ing for ‘an intellectually separable sphere of human interaction that could be described in detail’, possibly even measured. I placed emphasis here on the presence of an understanding by contemporaries of ‘autonomy’ in the polis economy, where the con guration of subsistence-related activities is perceived to change organically under the impact of many separate deci- sions. While not quite a recognition of the ‘invisible hand’ of Adam Smith, I would still require some comprehension on the part of an ancient observer of a social space, separable both from governmental enactment, for exam- ple, an Attic ps¯ephisma, and from the sort of decisions about the household on the micro-economic level that appear in Xenophon’s Oeconomicus. Even there, Xenophon does not transcend individual insights on opportunistic behaviour to achieve full consciousness of this ‘autonomy’ in its emergent diferentiation from other social processes, and does not consolidate an understanding of the way in which individual decisions about subsistence thereby became interwoven. It will also help to consider the phenomenon of self-equilibrium. The economically minded observer senses economic conditions evolving under the efect of many individual agents and inuenced by self-equilibrating forces, so that the aggregate impact of decisions fashions an adaptive frame- work for the subsistence of the inhabitants of an entire polis. That frame- work would be envisaged as continuously interacting both with the political structure and with the purposive decision-making of individuals. Yet, even when we suspect that the concept of the ‘economy’ has not emerged, we need, nevertheless, to look for the seeds of such awareness, indicia that are sensitive to autonomy and self-equilibrium.4 Under the aforesaid terms, I have deliberately set a high standard for ‘economic’ understanding because I anticipate that any ne-grained portrayal of Xenophon’s appreciation of classical economic phenomena will be subject to a charge of modernism; it will arouse all the customary objections about the formal versus the sub- stantivist approaches.5 I shall use the work of Moses Finley—my distinguished predecessor and fellow victim at Rutgers—as a lens to focus our discussion. Finley has dom- 4 See below, especially on Xen. Cyr. 8.2.5–6; Oec. 20.27–29; Por. 4.3–6. 5 See Figueira 1984..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Moderately Ironic Reading of Xenophon's Oeconomicus
    David M. JOHNSON Ischomachus the Model Husband? A Moderately Ironic Reading of Xenophon's Oeconomicus Xenophon's Oeconomicus is usually considered a treatise on household management masquerading as a Socratic dialogue (Pomeroy). But for others the reverse is true (Strauss and the Straussians; see also Mackenzie and Nails in EMC 1985, Too's review of Pomeroy in CR 1995, and the less orthodox Straussian Stevens). How one comes down on this issue will obviously affect one's evaluation of Ischomachus' relationship with his wife, and of Xenophon as a Socratic writer. I argue that the Oeconomicus is both Socratic and economic, both didactic and ironic. Xenophon chose Ischomachus because both his virtues and his vices have much to teach Critobulus, Socrates' immediate interlocutor, and Xenophon's readers. Our Ischomachus is probably the man whose wife went on to become the Chrysilla who would marry and bear a son to her son-in-law Callias, driving her daughter to attempt suicide (Andocides 1.124-127). There may be evidence for this in Oeconomicus itself. Callias would fall for Chrysilla again when she was "an old battleaxe" (Andocides 1.127); Ischomachus promises his wife that she can maintain her status even in old age (Oec. 7.20). The scandals which would beset Chrysilla and her children may shed light on Ischomachus' otherwise odd failure to say much about children to the wife he had married in large part for the sake of children. There are other ironies. Ischomachus hardly shares Socrates' understanding of property as that one knows how to use. Critobulus, in fact, is evidently already rich enough in conventional terms: he needs another sort of help.
    [Show full text]
  • Oikos and Economy: the Greek Legacy in Economic Thought
    Oikos and Economy: The Greek Legacy in Economic Thought GREGORY CAMERON In the study of the history of economic thought, there has been a tendency to take the meaning of the term “economics” for granted. As a consequence, when considering economic thought in ancient Greece, we turn to what the Greeks said about wealth, about money or about interest. This seems relatively straightforward. Problems emerge when we consider that the term “economics” had a different meaning in ancient Greece than it does today. As a rule, we project back onto history what we mean by “economics” and more or less ignore what it meant during the period in question. On one level, there is nothing wrong with this way of proceeding; after all we have no choice, ultimately, but to study the past with the concepts that are at our disposal. But the procedure can have certain drawbacks. The tendency of positive investigations is that they risk overlooking the kinds of transformations that give rise to our own concerns and even what is essential to our own thought and assumptions. The term “economics” has a long and varied history; the following is a brief attempt to turn things on their head and consider the history of economics not from the perspective of the modern notion of economics, but from the perspective of its ancient Greek ancestor and to begin to indicate the non-obvious ways in which the Greek legacy continues to inform even our most recent economies. As such, while brief mention is made of some modern economic historians, the primary focus is on the meaning of PhaenEx 3, no.
    [Show full text]
  • Agorapicbk-17.Pdf
    Excavations of the Athenian Agora Picture Book No. 17 Prepared by Mabel L. Lang Dedicated to Eugene Vanderpool o American School of Classical Studies at Athens ISBN 87661-617-1 Produced by the Meriden Gravure Company Meriden, Connecticut COVER: Bone figure of Socrates TITLE PAGE: Hemlock SOCRATES IN THE AGORA AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 1978 ‘Everything combines to make our knowledge of Socrates himself a subject of Socratic irony. The only thing we know definitely about him is that we know nothing.’ -L. Brunschvicg As FAR AS we know Socrates himselfwrote nothing, yet not only were his life and words given dramatic attention in his own time in the Clouds of Ar- istophanes, but they have also become the subject of many others’ writing in the centuries since his death. Fourth-century B.C. writers who had first-hand knowledge of him composed either dialogues in which he was the dominant figure (Plato and Aeschines) or memories of his teaching and activities (Xe- nophon). Later authors down even to the present day have written numerous biographies based on these early sources and considering this most protean of philosophers from every possible point of view except perhaps the topograph- ical one which is attempted here. Instead of putting Socrates in the context of 5th-century B.C. philosophy, politics, ethics or rhetoric, we shall look to find him in the material world and physical surroundings of his favorite stamping- grounds, the Athenian Agora. Just as ‘agora’ in its original sense meant ‘gathering place’ but came in time to mean ‘market place’, so the agora itself was originally a gathering place I.
    [Show full text]
  • The 4 Economic Systems What Is an Economic System?
    The 4 Economic Systems What is an Economic System? Economics is the study of how people make decisions given the resources that are provided to them Economics is all about CHOICES, both individual and group choices. We must make choices to provide for our needs and wants. The choices each society or nation selects leads to the creation of their type of economy. 3 Basic Questions Each economic system tries to answer the three basic questions: What should be produced? How it should be produced? For whom should it be produced? How they answer these questions determines the kind of system they have. Four Types of Systems There are four main types of economic systems. The Traditional Economic System The Command Economic System The Market Economic System The Mixed Economic System Each system has its strengths and weaknesses. Traditional Economy In a traditional economy, the customs and habits of the past are used to decide what and how goods will be produced, distributed, and consumed. Each member of society knows from early on what their role in the larger group will be. Jobs are passed down from generation to generation so there is little change in jobs over the generations. In a traditional economy, people are depended upon to fulfill their jobs. If someone fails to do their part, the system can break down. Farming, hunting, and herding are part of a traditional economy. Traditional economies can be found in different indigenous groups. In addition, traditional economies bartering is used for trade. Bartering is trading without money. For example, if an individual has a good and he trades it with another individual for a different good.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Economic Thought, Volume 1
    ANCIENT ECONOMIC THOUGHT This collection explores the interrelationship between economic practice and intellectual constructs in a number of ancient cultures. Each chapter presents a new, richer understanding of the preoccupation of the ancients with specific economic problems including distribution, civic pride, management and uncertainty and how they were trying to resolve them. The research is based around the different artifacts and texts of the ancient East Indian, Hebraic, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman and emerging European cultures which remain for our consideration today: religious works, instruction manuals, literary and historical writings, epigrapha and legal documents. In looking at such items it becomes clear what a different exercise it is to look forward, from the earliest texts and artifacts of any culture, to measure the achievements of thinking in the areas of economics, than it is to take the more frequent route and look backward, beginning with the modern conception of economic systems and theory creation. Presenting fascinating insights into the economic thinking of ancient cultures, this volume will enhance the reawakening of interest in ancient economic history and thought. It will be of great interest to scholars of economic thought and the history of ideas. B.B.Price is Professor of Ancient and Medieval History at York University, Toronto, and is currently doing research and teaching as visiting professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF ECONOMICS 1 Economics as Literature
    [Show full text]
  • The-Great-Depression-Glossary.Pdf
    The Great Depression | Glossary of Terms Glossary of Terms Balanced budget – Government revenues equal expenditures on an annual basis. (Lesson 5) Bank failure – When a bank’s liabilities (mainly deposits) exceed the value of its assets. (Lesson 3) Bank panic – When a bank run begins at one bank and spreads to others, causing people to lose confidence in banks. (Lesson 3) Bank reserves – The sum of cash that banks hold in their vaults and the deposits they maintain with Federal Reserve banks. (Lesson 3) Bank run – When many depositors rush to the bank to withdraw their money at the same time. (Lesson 3) Bank suspensions – Comprises all banks closed to the public, either temporarily or permanently, by supervisory authorities or by the banks’ boards of directors because of financial difficulties. Banks that close under a special holiday declaration and remained closed only during the designated holiday are not counted as suspensions. (Lesson 4) Banks – Businesses that accept deposits and make loans. (Lesson 2) Budget deficit – When government expenditures exceed revenues. (Lesson 4) Budget surplus – When government revenues exceed expenditures. (Lesson 4) Consumer confidence – The relationship between how consumers feel about the economy and their spending and saving decisions. (Lesson 5) Consumer Price Index (CPI) – A measure of the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. (Lesson 1) Deflation – A general downward movement of prices for goods and services in an economy. (Lessons 1, 3 and 6) Depression – A very severe recession; a period of severely declining economic activity spread across the economy (not limited to particular sectors or regions) normally visible in a decline in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, wholesale-retail credit and the loss of overall confidence in the economy.
    [Show full text]
  • Different Economic Systems Assessment
    Social Studies Assessment Activity #14 DDIIFFFFEERREENNTT EECCOONNOOMMIICC SSYYSSTTEEMMSS Introduction The new cars and trucks have arrived! Should you buy a medium-sized car? As you may know, they are efficient and more economical to operate than a truck. But the new pickups are so flashy, and they offer all the conveniences of a car! Decisions! Decisions! Decisions! Speaking of decisions, can you even afford a new vehicle? If you don’t have enough cash, you’ll have to finance. Financing or borrowing means another monthly payment -- one that could put a damper on your future recreational spending. Perhaps you better think about this further. Making a decision to buy a new vehicle can be difficult and there are several options available. Our “market driven” economy allows privately owned corporations to produce many styles of vehicles to meet the needs and interests of the American consumer. Purchasing a new vehicle means selecting a specific make and model that comes equipped with the latest in “gadgetry.” Additionally, one must select from a wide range of colors. Obviously, purchasing a new vehicle involves more than one decision, but at least we have the freedom to make those choices. Do people living in other countries go through the same process when they consider buying a new vehicle? In some countries they do, in others they don’t. Economic systems differ. As such, making economic decisions in some countries is quite different from economic decisions that are made by Americans. In this activity, you will: Use the resources you have accumulated to write an essay that analyzes the similarities and differences between two economic systems.
    [Show full text]
  • Sophrosyne in Xenophon’S Oeconomicus
    166 ECONOMIC SELF- RESTRAINT An interpretation of Ischomachus’ use of sophrosyne in Xenophon’s Oeconomicus MA Thesis Classics and Ancient Civilizations Supervisor: Dr. T.A. van Berkel Second reader: Dr. A.M. Rademaker Word count: 16.494 Date of submission: 12-08-2019 Aniek Vink s1665235 [email protected] Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 1: a semantic study of sophrosyne ............................................................................................. 4 1.1. General uses ................................................................................................................................. 4 1.2. Plato’s philosophical uses ............................................................................................................ 8 1.3. Relation to enkrateia .................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Socrates’ sophrosyne ........................................................................................................... 11 2.1. Good sense to avoid harming others .......................................................................................... 11 2.1.1. Xenophon’s apologetic definition ....................................................................................... 11 2.1.2. Socrates’ philosophical definition ......................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • JA Economics® Course Overview and Outline
    JA Economics® | Course Overview and Outline Initial JA Economics® Course Release Overview and Outline Spring 2019 Market for Goods JA Economics is a one-semester course that connects high and Services school students to the economic principles that influence their daily lives as well as their futures. It addresses each BANK of the economics standards identified by the Council for Production of Goods and Household Economic Education as being essential to complete a high Services + + Consumer school economics course. Course components equip students to: Market for Labor • Learn the necessary concepts applicable to state and national educational standards • Apply economic reasoning and skills in the world around them • Synthesize elective concepts through a cumulative, tangible deliverable (optional case studies and/or projects) • Demonstrate the skills necessary for future financial literacy pathway success • Integrate College and Career Readiness anchor standards in Reading, Informational Text, Speaking and Listening, and Vocabulary Volunteers engage with students through a variety of activities that includes subject matter guest speaking and coaching or advising for case study and project course work. Volunteer activities help students better understand the relationship between what they learn in school, their future career, and their successful participation in today’s global economy. Through a variety of experiential activities presented by the teacher and volunteer, students better understand the relationship between what they learn
    [Show full text]
  • History of Economic Thought
    History of economic thought The term economics was coined around 1870 and popularized by Alfred Marshall, as a substitute for the earlier term political economy which has been used through the 18-19th centuries, with Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Marx as its main thinkers and which today is frequently referred to as the "classical" economic theory. Both economy and economics are derived from the Greek oikos- for "house" or "settlement", and nomos for "laws" or "norms". Economic thought may be roughly divided into three phases: Premodern (Greek, Roman, Arab), Early modern (mercantilist, physiocrats) and Modern (since Adam Smith in the late 18th century). Systematic economic theory has been developed mainly since the birth of the modern era. Premodern economic thought Several ancient philosophers made various economic observations. Among them Aristotle is probably the most important. Mediaeval Arabs also made contributions to the understanding of economics. In particular, Ibn Khaldun of Tunis (1332-1406) wrote on economic and political theory in his Prolegomena, showing for example, how population density is related to the division of labour which leads to economic growth and so in turn to greater population in a virtuous circle. Early Western precursors of economics engaged in the scholastics theological debates during the middle ages. An important topic of discussion was the determination of the just price of a good. In the religious wars following the Reformation in the 16th century, ideas about free trade appeared, later formulated in legal terms by Hugo de Groot or Grotius (Mare liberum). Economic policy in Europe during the late middle ages and early renaissance treated economic activity as a good which was to be taxed to raise revenues for the nobility and the church.
    [Show full text]
  • Intensive Industries and Distributed Knowledge Bases.1
    What is the ‘knowledge economy’? Knowledge- intensive industries and distributed knowledge bases.1 Keith Smith STEP Group Oslo Norway May 2000 Prepared as part of the project “Innovation Policy in a Knowledge-Based Economy” commissioned by the European Commission 1 I would like to thank Daniele Archibugi, Robin Cowan, Paul David, Dominique Foray, Gert van de Paal, Luc Soete and members of the European Commission for comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Introduction: technology and competence Public policies for science, technology and innovation have always been aimed primarily at creating and diffusing knowledge. In recent years such policies have attracted increasing attention as a result of claims that knowledge-intensive industries are now at the core of growth, and that we are now entering a new type of knowledge-driven economy or even a completely new form of ‘knowledge society’. What does it mean to speak of a ‘knowledge-intensive’ industry or a ‘knowledge- based’ economy, however? These terms are often used in a superficial and uncritical way, and there is a real need to consider whether they are anything more than slogans. The objectives of this paper are firstly to assess some of the issues involved in the concept of a knowledge economy or learning economy, and to criticise the idea that the knowledge economy should be identified with high-technology industries (as conventionally defined). Against this background I describe some empirical dimensions of knowledge creation in Europe, and then turn to concepts and a methodology for mapping the knowledge base of an economic activity. The paper proposes the concept of a ‘distributed knowledge base’ for industries, and argues that the term ‘knowledge economy’ is only meaningful if we see it in terms of widely- spread knowledge intensity across economic activities, including so-called ‘low technology’ sectors.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Implications of the Growth of a Service Economy
    This PDF is a selection from an out-of-print volume from the National Bureau of Economic Research Volume Title: The Service Economy Volume Author/Editor: Victor R. Fuchs, assisted by Irving F. Leveson Volume Publisher: NBER Volume ISBN: 0-87014-475-8 Volume URL: http://www.nber.org/books/fuch68-1 Publication Date: 1968 Chapter Title: Some Implications of the Growth of a Service Economy Chapter Author: Victor R. Fuchs Chapter URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c1162 Chapter pages in book: (p. 183 - 199) 8 SOMEIMPLICATIONS OF THE GROWTH OF A SERVICE ECONOMY The preceding chapters have delineated the shift of employment to serv- ices, have suggested some of the reasons for this shift, and have hinted at some of the implications. In this chapter we will take a longer and closer look at some aspects of the growth of a service economy. It will be argued that this growth has important implications for society, and that it also has important implications for economic analysis. To be sure, such an attempt to look into the future is subject to many qualifications. A shift in the relative importance of different in4ustries is only one of many changes that are occurring simultaneously in the economy, and these other changes may tend to offset the effects of inter- industry shifts. Also, these shifts themselves may set in motion changes with implications different from those discussed here. Nevertheless, given the rapid growth of the service industries, it is useful to consider differ- ences between them and the rest of the economy. As Chapters 2 and 3 make clear, the dramatic shift to services has occurred in employment—not in output.
    [Show full text]