ON SHARE CONTRACTS AND OTHER ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF XENOPHON
| Published date | 01 February 1992 |
| Date | 01 February 1992 |
| Author | L. N. Christofides |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.1992.tb00609.x |
Scofrtsh
Journal
of
Poltrtcal
Economy.
Vol.
39.
No.
I.
February
1992
c
1992
Scottish Economic Society
ON SHARE CONTRACTS AND OTHER ECONOMIC
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF
XENOPHON
L.
N.
CHRISTOFIDES’
University
of
Guelph
I
INTRODUCTION
Because
of
the cumulative nature
of
scientific knowledge, including that on
economics, there exists
a
natural interest in the intellectual antecedents
of
current thinking. Many textbooks on the history
of
economic thought include
some discussion
of
ancient Greek writing that bears on economic issues,
notably that
of
Plato
(427-347
BC) and, particularly, Aristotle
(384-322
BC).
Ingram
(1919,
Laistner
(1923),
Bell
(1953),
Lekachman
(1959),
Schumpeter
(1954),
Blaug
(1985),
Roll
(1954)
and Spiegel
(1971).
to name but
a
few,
all
accord particular attention to the work
of
these eminent philosophers.
This concern is entirely justified given Plato’s and Aristotle’s pre-eminence as
philosophers and their influence on generations
of
thinkers in general and
economists in particular. Yet it overshadows the earlier contributions and influ-
ence
of
the Sophists, the professional teachers and scholars who were a major
intellectual force in Athens during the 5th and 4th centuries
BC.
The eclipse
of
the style
of
thinking advocated by the Sophists is unfortunate
given its affinity with contemporary methods
of
economic analysis. It is
perhaps understandable given that much
of
what we know about the Sophists
*
I
am grateful to
G.
Georgiou for discussions and detailed comments, to
K.
Dorter,
M.
Hoy,
J.
Leslie, and
R.
Rees
for
comments
on
an earlier draft, to the Cyprus Economic Society
for its hospitality and the SSHRC for its financial assistance. The usual caveat
on
responsi-
bility holds.
’
Their methods of instruction superseded the old poetic tradition
of
education, stressing
the analytical and technical rather than the artistic
...
their approach is much closer
to
that
of
the majority of modern professional economists than are those adopted by Plato, Aristotle
and the scholastics. For the Sophists, economics is a technology.
Its
techniques can be
taught
...
without reference
to
the desirability
...
attached to the ends
...
which the technique@)
can be made to serve. The discipline can be applied, for example,
to
increase the afluence
of
a particular household or
...
state’. Gordon
(1975,
pp.
15-16).
Date
of
receipt of final manuscript: 25th November
1991.
111
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