Faith and Liberty: The Economic Thought of the Late Scholastics

Studies in Ethics and Economics Series

By: Alejandro A. Chafuen

Most people think that free-market ideas and theories were first substantially developed in the eighteenth century by figures such as Adam Smith.

In this revised edition of Faith and Liberty, Alejandro A. Chafuen describes this misconception by examining the sixteenth and seventeenth century writings of a group of Catholic theologians and philosophers.

The Late- Scholastics, as they are called, were the first to engage in a systematic moral analysis of the ethical issues associated with trade and commerce. In doing so, they arrived at solutions that are in many senses indistinguishable from the ideas of many modern free market commentators. In this revised edition, Chafuen bolsters his case by including recent and pertinent material which gives rise to new questions and concerns. Listening this audiobook will force to consider what they understand to be an authentically Christian approach to economic questions.

©2003 Alejandro A. Chafuen (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

This book likewise seeks to address itself to free market economists and historians who have neglected or failed fully to understand the relation of general moral purpose to economics itself. Chafuen relates this connection in a coherent and systematic manner that should also serve as a positive contribution, seen in light of this long history of moral and economic reflection, both to modern economics as a study and to modern social thought as a practice. (James V Schall, Georgetown University)