Merchants, prices and justice: Pedro de Oñate and Scotus’ labour theory of value: a philosophical approach to the question of economic value

Abstract

In this paper I will analyze the Jesuit Pedro de Oñate ́s ideas on economic value and its relation with merchants’ work. Born in Spain, Oñate moved to South America after studying in Valladolid and Salamanca, where he lived until his death. When dealing with economic value, Oñate’s ideas were developed as an answer to what he and many members of the School of Salamanca thought that were Duns Scotus’ ideas on economic value, but also to the economic and social situation that he had lived in America. There, the lack of merchants and goods resulted in higher prices than in Spain, which obliged him to analyze why this was happening and if these prices were just prices. In his work, Oñate combined a theoretical critique to the labour value theory, posing instead an original understanding of the idea of “utility”, with a practical recognition of the importance of merchants and their work. Following this second idea, he argued that although costs are not the last foundation of economic value, they should not be completely ruled out if one wants to understand why there is abundance or lack of merchants, and if prices are just or not.

Keywords: Scholastica Colonialis, labour value theory, common estimation, just prices, prices, philosophy of economics, fair trade.