Global Journal of Human Social Science, E: Economics, Volume 22 Issue 2

economists, and their descendants in the early modern period are of interest today. The hypothesis to be confirmed is that it is precisely their normative approaches that can be a corrective to contemporary economics and thus support concerns of contemporary ecology. This hypothesis has an implication: the environment as a world of objects is constituted by the subject, i.e., by the individual's values, by the knowledge with which he interprets the world, and by his relation to the fellow human beings who belong to his world and with whom he interprets it. If one wants to understand the environment as an object, then one has to start with the subject. The subject, but also his house, is the microcosm with which the macrocosm of the environment corresponds. A central work of ancient literature on agriculture is Virgil's Georgica , which he wrote between 37 and 29 BC. The Roman author advises man to adopt an attitude of reverence when he cultivates nature with diligence. It is the will of Jupiter, he says, to see man work. Virgil deals with agriculture, fruit-growing, viticulture, animal husbandry and beekeeping. That he sees these disciplines of knowledge in a social context is shown by his description of the bee-state, which he presents as a model for the Roman state. The bees, with their loyalty and diligence, their sociability and division of labor, appear to him as heirs of the Golden Age. In Virgil, agriculture is thus related to virtues, situated in the state as whole and idealized with the model of the bee-state. The Georgica thus becomes one of the sources of early modern instructions for the large landowner, who had to organize the work in his house and on his lands. Another source was the literature of normative economics. In ancient Greece, economics was part of practical philosophy and ethics. It dealt with what should be and established norms for the order of the house, the principle of which was self-sufficiency. In the face of extensive self-sufficiency, the market only had a supplementary function. Within the framework of the community, the good will of all ensured that, in reciprocity, one shared the burdens of the other and that, in a just exchange, whoever had too much of one thing gave it to whoever had too little. This can be seen as economic ethics or as an anthropological perspective in which man is the measure of all things. Ancient economics starts from the householder and his relationship with his wife as his helper, then comes to the children, the household members, the servants, the slaves, the friends and neighbors, before looking at the wealth in movable and immovable goods, followed by the procurement of means for the household members through intrahousehold provision or through extrahousehold acquisition . 4 4 Cf. Erich Egner, Der Verlust der alten Ökonomik. Seine Hintergründe und Wirkungen, Berlin Duncker & Humblot, 1985, p. 25 Aristotle advises: "But what is natural must be gauged from those things which are in their natural state, not from those which are corrupt." 5 Xenophon's Economics , a dialogue Socrates conducts with others, also discusses the generation of surpluses that occur where the household is managed thoughtfully, purposefully, and with diligent work. The surpluses thereby make it possible not least for the landlord to fulfill public and private obligations, whose costs only a wealthy person can carry. Finally, the management of a house with agriculture is an appropriate occupation for polis citizens. After discussing marriage and the tasks of husband and wife in the house, Xenophon finally emphasizes the ability of the master of the house to motivate his subordinates to top performance, like a commander or politician . 6 In Aristotle, man as a zoon politikon , as a being designed for society, is the starting point of economics. Economic purposes are the maintenance of the household community, procreation and child rearing. The house forms the basis for the larger and higher community of the polis, which is why Aristotle places his discussion of economics in the first book of Politics . While the house provides for daily living together, needs of the military, law, and religion that go beyond that are carried within the framework of the polis. The smallest social grouping is the house, which is conceived as a self-sustaining unit where lacking goods are acquired by giving surplus products in exchange or by purchase. This supplementary satisfaction of needs distinguishes Aristotle from acquisitiveness, which aims at unlimited profit-making for its own sake. The latter, chrematistics, seems unnatural to him, since it does not serve to secure subsistence and stops at what is necessary for a perfect life. 7 The good oikonomos has the virtues of prudence, diligence, and thrift, while the bad one is guided by sloth, carelessness, and unrestrained desires. Aristotle therefore urges "that the care of the oikonomos be directed more to men than to dead property, and more to the excellence of the former than to the abundance of the latter, which we call wealth. " 8 Among the Romans, it was first Marcus Porcius Cato, the Elder (234-148), whose book De agricultura deals with the income to be derived from an estate. Unlike Aristotle, he gives preference to the areas that bring the most profit. This, however, is contradicted by the pedagogical principles he handed down on the conduct of life, in which he rejects luxury and calls for a return to the mos maiorum : "You care a lot about food and you care very little about a proper life." Or, "I would rather compete with the bravest for valor than with the richest for riches or with the greedy for covetousness." 5 Aristoteles, Politik, Eugen Rolfes ed., Meiner, Hamburg, 1995, p. 9 (1254 a) 6 Cf. Julius Hoffmann, Die „Hausväterliteratur“ und die „Predigten über den christlichen Hausstand“, Beltz, Weinheim, Berlin 1959, p. 8-10 7 Aristoteles, Politik, I, 1258 a Volume XXII Issue II Version I 44 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 © 2022 Global Journals E Economy between Necessity and Luxury. Business Ethics from Antiquity to Early Modern Times 8 „Cf. Julius Hoffmann, Die „Hausväterliteratur“