John Locke's Notion of Money Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

John Lockes Notion of Money - Essay ExampleHe bases this idea on the definition of labor. tally to Locke, The labor of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his (V.27). This operator that if one labors for something, that something by nature becomes his property. Therefore, labor determines property. This property and so is assumed to be useful and the intrinsic value of thingsdepends solo on their usefulness to the life of sm either-arm (V.37). Therefore, property has value, and this value can only be represented by gold. Therefore, if one has money, even if the property is gone, its value stays with its rightful owner. Further more(prenominal), this means that since money does not decay, then it does not lose its value. In fact, money does not only have value only if it overly serves as a pledge or an agreement among people that they will honor its value by mutual consent (V.47). Lastly, according to Locke, money is a means to enlarge mans possess ions or property (V.48). Since money became a means to exchange useful goods and since different industries developed to give man different amounts of possessions, money became a means to own larger and larger property. ... If we rely on barter, we cannot just know how much of one thing can be justly or rightfully exchange with another. Therefore, for Aristotle, all good mustbe measured by some one thing and that only money can serve as a standard or it can provide the means to an equal exchange of goods (V.3). The idea of equal exchange is based on Aristotles idea of justice, which is the subject of the whole Chapter 5 of the Nicomachean Ethics. For Aristotle, the reason why money should be used as a tush of equality is that it is fixed and more stable than other criteria. For example, nobody can exactly say who is right and whether virtuous people must receive more that those who are not. Money, however, is fixed and will give its owner the same value whether he is more virtuou s than another person. Aristotle also states that money is not ever worth the same yet it tends to be steadier (V.3). This means that the value of money may change but it is still a better mode of exchange because it is not perishable. Moreover, money is our surety, which means that money is a guarantee or a pledge that its value will be honored by all men as it is fixed by agreement (V.3). This also means that even if now we do not need to use a product that money can buy, the fact that we have money means that we can still use this product in the future when we need it. Aristotle and John Locke on Money Aristotle and John Locke both have similar and different opinions on money. Nevertheless, Aristotles views seem more viable. Both philosophers believe that money is more or less a practical mode of exchange. According to John Locke, money does not decay like perishable goods such as corn and