Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

2. Laws that relate to the constant manner in which free agents (men) act in identical circumstances. These laws will have moral certitude. They are not possessed of the same inflexible nature as are the laws of physical science. They impose no obligation or absolute necessity. They are founded on human liberty, and may be modified according to circumstances. Still, they are true laws, moral laws, as they are called, "the expression of certain constant relations in the acts and proceedings of men." (Gide, Principles of Political Economy, 1900 edit., p. 11.)

3. Laws that relate to the concrete, material things that enter into the science, such as land, money, trade, credit, etc. They determine the actions and reactions of external bodies, and here the laws have physical certitude.

The laws of Political Economy may again be classified thus: (1) obligatory moral laws; (2) historical and directive moral laws; (3) physical laws.

Examples: Of the first mercial transactions.

It is forbidden to lie or cheat in com

Of the second-When times are good, the cost of living low, and wages high, marriages are frequent among the working classes.

Of the third When money is plentiful, the rate of interest is low. The rate of exchange of bills of exchange will vary with the number of bills in the market.

Political Economy is therefore a science. It is a science the province of which is to trace wealth to its causes, which lie in the activity of man as applied to the wealth-producing materials offered by nature, and to discover the laws according to which wealth is produced, consumed, and distributed.

Political Economy a Practical Science. In view of the end that is sought to be attained, a science may be Speculative or Practical. A speculative science rests in the mere contemplation of an object; it deals in a purely abstract consideration of a subject, having no reference to the practical conduct of the individual who applies himself to it. Thus, Pure Mathematics and Metaphysics are speculative sciences.

A practical science considers principles in. so far as they are rules of conduct, in so far as they determine, direct, and control the operations of rational beings. Thus, Moral Theology, Medicine, are practical sciences. Now, Political Economy considers wealth not merely in its abstract, transcendental elements, but with reference to its production, consumption, and distribution through the free activity of the members of society. Therefore, Political Economy is a practical science.

Political Economy Subject to Ethics. Is Political Economy connected with Ethics? There are some economists who hold that Political Economy has nothing to do with Ethics. Such is the opinion of most economic writers of the old schools, of Yves Guyot, Maurice Block, Rossi, Stuart Mill, Cherbuliez, Ricardo, Bentham. Others hold that Political Economy is a special branch of Ethics. Thus, Liberatore, Devas, De Pascal, Ott. We hold that Political Economy is distinct from Ethics, but is dependent on Ethics. Thus, Pesch, Costa-Rossetti, Cathrein, Von Brants, Béchaux.

Ethics is the science that directs human actions according to the principles of right reason. Ethics embraces within its scope all the actions of man, all the activity of man, whatever may be the field in which that activity is employed. But it is clear from our definition of Political Economy that the activity of man is employed in the producing, consuming, and distributing of material goods. Political Economy, therefore, is subject to the laws of Ethics.

Can it be believed that there shall be no moral restraint upon society in the matter of the producing of wealth, that there is no restriction ethically as to the manner of using wealth, that the moral law shall not enter into the questions of property rights, social organizations, wages? Man does not lose his rational moral character by entering into society, and Political Economy cannot formulate laws with regard to wealth that antagonize the laws of Ethics. If Political Economy would justify its claim to the rank of a science, the principles it deduces must not oppose the principles deduced by another and a higher

science. Science is knowledge. Knowledge is the possession of truth. Truth cannot oppose truth. When Political Economy, therefore, attempts to lay down principles that run counter to the acknowledged principles of Ethics, it so far ceases to be a science.

Political Economy Distinct from Ethics. Political Economy is, however, distinct from Ethics, because the subject matter of Political Economy, viz. the direction of man's activity with regard to wealth or temporal interests, differs from the subject matter of Ethics, viz. the direction of man's activity with regard to his eternal and spiritual interests.

As already stated, very many economists of the Liberal School deny the union between Political Economy and Ethics. The opinions of some of the more important may be summed up as follows:

Yves Guyot - Political Economy is in itself unmoral. The use one makes of its laws is alone moral or immoral.

Block - Political Economy is a science, the gaining of knowledge. Scire (the knowing of a thing) does not come within the scope of Ethics, but velle (the willing of a thing) does. Ethics affects the will.

Rossi - Political Economy is a science, not an art. It pertains to the intellect, not to the will.

Stuart Mill - Political Economy has to do only with the acquisition of wealth.

Cherbuliez - Political Economy takes no account of the ethical value of its laws. Ricardo, Bentham, hold the same.

In refutation of the above opinions, it may be here briefly stated that Political Economy is not a speculative science. It is a practical science, which stands midway between speculative science and art. Political Economy cannot eliminate or abstract from the morality of man's actions, whatever be the sphere of man's activity. Every volitional act of man is imputable to man, is deserving of either praise or blame, and comes within the domain of morality.

A reaction has set in among modern economists, and many ad

- Is

mit a connection between the two sciences. Thus, Cauwès, Gide, Baudrillart, De Laveleye, Béchaux, Minghetti, Schönberg. Leroy Beaulieu declares that "l'économie politique fait bon ménage1 avec la morale." (Traité d'économie politique, I, p. 78.) Political Economy Subordinate to Political Science. Political Economy connected with Social or Political Science? The end of Social or Political Science is to procure the common temporal good of the citizens. It has many branches: Law, Politics, Statecraft, Education. Political Economy also comes within its range, since it studies the wealth of the members of society, a part of the temporal good. It is subordinate, therefore, to Political Science, and in case of conflict between its principles and those of Political Science, Political Economy, which seeks but a part of the temporal good, must yield to that science which seeks the whole temporal good of society.

II. METHOD OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

Subject Matter of Political Economy. The method employed by Political Economy in seeking after knowledge will depend on its subject matter. The subject matter of Political Economy consists of the relations of men among themselves and of the relations of men with the external world in their pursuit of material goods. Hence, its subject matter is threefold: 1. Man as a social being, bound by the moral law and destined to eternal life in the supernatural order;

2. The external world governed by physical laws;

3. Human activity, or the relations between man and the material things upon which he exercises his activity.

Method of Political Economy. The subject matter of Political Economy, therefore, is partly speculative and partly practical. Such being the case, the method employed by Political Economy cannot be purely inductive from facts and experiments to conclusion or purely deductive from premises to

[ocr errors]

1 An expression usually applied to a husband and wife who live happily together. "Political Economy lives happily with Ethics."

conclusion. It makes use of speculative reasons and of the data of experience. It bases its conclusions on the nature and the duties of man, as also on an investigation of nature, labor, capital, exchange, the consumption and distribution of wealth. Under deduction, Political Economy (1) takes cognizance of the moral laws set forth in Ethics which direct man to his ultimate end, in so far as they bear relation to economics; (2) determines the general means to be employed in the production, the consumption, and the distribution of wealth; (3) determines the practical employment of human activity in conformity with the first and second functions.

Under induction, Political Economy takes up (1) the study of facts as confirmatory of the general principles of human activity; (2) the teachings of history; (3) the study of facts as determining in special cases the application of general principles.

For the Catholic economist the sources of the ethical principles that enter into Political Economy are (1) dogmatic truths; (2) the teachings of the Church, e.g. the Encyclicals of Leo XIII, (3) the Natural Law and its applications as made by Moral Theology.

III. SCHOOLS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

[ocr errors]

The Mercantile System. Before entering upon the enumeration of the various schools of Political Economy, it will be well to make mention of the system which held sway almost universally before the rise of the Liberal School in 1765. That system is known as the Mercantile System.

The more

The main

and the

It held that wealth consisted exclusively of money. actual money a country had, the more wealth it had. purpose of the state was to increase the store of money, chief means of increasing this store was commerce. Hence, commerce was to be encouraged. The export trade should surpass the import trade, and the amount of the surplus of the former over the latter would indicate the gain in specie or coin.

Thus, if goods produced within a country be sold within the country, the money remains within the country, but there is no

« AnteriorContinuar »