Subtopic Deep Dive
Civil Economy Scholastic Tradition
Research Guide
What is Civil Economy Scholastic Tradition?
The Civil Economy Scholastic Tradition refers to the economic thought in Italian and Spanish scholasticism emphasizing mutual aid, common good, and social bonds over individualistic market principles.
This tradition spans medieval scholastics like Peter of John Olivi to eighteenth-century Italian thinkers on 'felicitas publica' and Spanish ilustración concepts of police. Key papers include Bruni (2012, 2 citations) on Neapolitan civil economy and Ravenscroft (2011, 4 citations) on scholastic usury critiques in Dante. Over 10 papers from provided lists trace its contrast with modern utilitarianism.
Why It Matters
Civil economy offers alternatives to utilitarian economics by prioritizing social bonds and public happiness, influencing modern debates on relationality in business ethics (Santori 2021, 3 citations; Nalli 2021, 5 citations). It critiques usury and individualism through scholastic lenses (Ravenscroft 2011, 4 citations; Franco and Nickl 2018, 3 citations). Applications include Catholic Social Teaching connections and patristic economics post-Enlightenment (van Geest 2022, 1 citation).
Key Research Challenges
Interpreting felicitas publica
Debates persist on eighteenth-century 'public happiness' meanings, with D’Onofrio (2015, 11 citations) critiquing Bruni's view and Bruni (2017, 8 citations) responding. Reconciling Italian civil economy with broader political economy remains contested. Semantic shifts in Spanish police concepts add complexity (Sánchez León 2005, 9 citations).
Linking scholastics to Dante
Auditing Dante’s Inferno usury portrayal against scholastic arguments reveals conceptual depth (Ravenscroft 2011, 4 citations). Challenges include tracing exact debts to medieval theologians. Modern readings must avoid anachronism in economic critiques.
Tracing relational economics
Connecting civil economy's relationality to Adam Smith and Catholic Social Teaching faces paradigm shifts from religion to economics (Santori 2021, 3 citations; Belligni 2019, 2 citations). Olivi’s subject-based value theory requires integration with just price doctrines (Franco and Nickl 2018, 3 citations).
Essential Papers
ON THE CONCEPT OF ‘FELICITAS PUBLICA’ IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY POLITICAL ECONOMY
Federico D’Onofrio · 2015 · Journal of the History of Economic Thought · 11 citations
This article presents some observations on “public happiness” in order to clarify the idea’s meaning in the eighteenth-century Italian context. It examines Lugino Bruni’s interpretation of this con...
Ordenar la civilización: semántica del concepto de policía en los orígenes de la ilustración española
Pablo Sánchez León · 2005 · Complutensian Scientific Journals (Complutense University of Madrid) · 9 citations
This article analyses the transformations in the meaning of the concept of «police» occurred towards the middle of the 18th century in Spain, just before the establishment of the first institutions...
ON THE CONCEPT OF ECONOMIA CIVILE AND “FELICITAS PUBLICA”: A COMMENT ON FEDERICO D’ONOFRIO
Luigino Bruni · 2017 · Journal of the History of Economic Thought · 8 citations
In “On the Concept of ‘Felicitas Publica’ in Eighteenth-Century Political Economy,” a recent paper in this journal, Federico D’Onofrio strongly criticizes the interpretation that Luigino Bruni and ...
What Mutual Assistance Is, and What It Could Be in the Contemporary World
Federica Nalli · 2021 · Journal of Business Ethics · 5 citations
Usury in the Inferno : Auditing Dante’s Debt to the Scholastics
Simon Ravenscroft · 2011 · Comitatus · 4 citations
There is a close connection between Dante’s portrayal of usury in the Inferno and wider scholastic argumentation on the subject. Reading Dante’s account in light of the scholastic critique of usury...
A Certain Seminal Character of Profit which We Commonly Call “Capital”: Peter of John Olivi and the <i>Tractatus de contractibus</i>
Giuseppe Franco, Peter Nickl · 2018 · Journal for Markets and Ethics · 3 citations
Abstract Tractatus de contractibus shows that there are mainly three fundamental economic views that characterize the originality and the acuteness of Olivi’s thought: a subject-based theory of val...
Is Relationality Always Other-Oriented? Adam Smith, Catholic Social Teaching, and Civil Economy
Paolo Santori · 2021 · Philosophy of Management · 3 citations
Abstract Recent studies have investigated connections between Adam Smith’s economic and philosophical ideas and Catholic Social Teaching (CST). Scholars argue that their common background lies in t...
Reading Guide
Foundational Papers
Start with Sánchez León (2005, 9 citations) for Spanish ilustración police semantics; Ravenscroft (2011, 4 citations) for scholastic usury in Dante; Bruni (2012, 2 citations) for Neapolitan civil economy origins.
Recent Advances
D’Onofrio (2015, 11 citations) and Bruni (2017, 8 citations) debate felicitas publica; Nalli (2021, 5 citations) and Santori (2021, 3 citations) link to modern mutual aid and relationality.
Core Methods
Semantic analysis of concepts like police and felicitas publica (Sánchez León 2005; D’Onofrio 2015); textual auditing of scholastic influences (Ravenscroft 2011); value theory and just price doctrines (Franco and Nickl 2018).
How PapersFlow Helps You Research Civil Economy Scholastic Tradition
Discover & Search
Research Agent uses citationGraph on D’Onofrio (2015) to map debates with Bruni (2017), revealing 8-citation response chains. exaSearch queries 'felicitas publica Neapolitan tradition' surfaces Bruni (2012); findSimilarPapers extends to Sánchez León (2005) on Spanish ilustración.
Analyze & Verify
Analysis Agent runs readPaperContent on Bruni (2017) to extract counterarguments to D’Onofrio, then verifyResponse with CoVe checks interpretive accuracy against abstracts. runPythonAnalysis computes citation networks via pandas on provided lists; GRADE grades evidence strength for scholastic usury claims in Ravenscroft (2011).
Synthesize & Write
Synthesis Agent detects gaps in relationality literature between Olivi (Franco and Nickl 2018) and modern ethics (Santori 2021), flagging contradictions. Writing Agent applies latexSyncCitations to compile bibliographies, latexCompile for formatted reviews, and exportMermaid for timeline diagrams of Neapolitan tradition.
Use Cases
"Analyze citation network of civil economy papers from Bruni and D’Onofrio"
Research Agent → citationGraph on D’Onofrio (2015) → runPythonAnalysis (pandas network viz) → matplotlib citation plot exported as image.
"Write LaTeX review contrasting scholastic usury with modern economics"
Synthesis Agent → gap detection on Ravenscroft (2011) and Santori (2021) → latexEditText for draft → latexSyncCitations → latexCompile → PDF output.
"Find code or data repos linked to mutual assistance economic models"
Research Agent → paperExtractUrls on Nalli (2021) → paperFindGithubRepo → githubRepoInspect → exportCsv of model parameters for Olivi-inspired simulations.
Automated Workflows
Deep Research workflow scans 250M+ papers via OpenAlex for 'civil economy scholastic', chains searchPapers → citationGraph → structured report on 10+ provided papers. DeepScan applies 7-step CoVe to verify Bruni-D’Onofrio debate interpretations with GRADE checkpoints. Theorizer generates relational economics theory from Olivi (Franco and Nickl 2018) and patristics (van Geest 2022).
Frequently Asked Questions
What defines Civil Economy Scholastic Tradition?
Italian and Spanish scholastic thought on mutual aid and common good, contrasting modern individualism (Bruni 2012; Sánchez León 2005).
What are key methods in this tradition?
Scholastic critique of usury via just price and subject-based value (Ravenscroft 2011; Franco and Nickl 2018); semantic analysis of police and felicitas publica (Sánchez León 2005; D’Onofrio 2015).
What are major papers?
D’Onofrio (2015, 11 citations) on felicitas publica; Bruni (2017, 8 citations) response; Bruni (2012, 2 citations) on Neapolitan tradition.
What open problems exist?
Resolving interpretive disputes on felicitas publica (D’Onofrio 2015 vs. Bruni 2017); integrating relationality with post-Enlightenment economics (Santori 2021; van Geest 2022).
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