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Justice In Exchange: The Difficulty Of Establishing Commensurability In Aristotle’S Nichomachean Ethics, Asher Hilton

Honors Theses

In Chapter 5 of Book V of the Nichomachean Ethics, an analysis of justice in exchange leads Aristotle to conclude that differing things can only be made commensurate in a practical sense. The passage sets up a relationship between association, exchange, equality, and commensurability in market exchange and leaves Aristotle with differing notions of commensurability. Aristotle considers demand (a need for resources) to be a means of resolving the tension; however, this possibility is subject to objections. Aristotle’s analysis of association for exchange is problematic, as is his exchange-equality relationship; examples from economic game theory illustrate the objections to …