Question

b. What kind of reasoning does Aquinas use to argue that all sellers should charge the just price? Is Aquinas using moral or scientific reasoning?

Answer 1

Thomas Aquinas ' most important contribution was Just price This philosophy was founded upon the principle of worth. He recognised the importance of time and place. Only price was correlated with service cost or value. However, it was believed that it was not possible to determine the exact price.
Furthermore, owing to market fluctuations, only price was subject to variations. One might charge a high price either because he had somehow enhanced the product or because of the risk he took in transporting it from one place to the next. The fee of a higher price was therefore justified if the seller was likely to suffer a loss

The Medieval School believed the interest should be equal to costs like labor expenditure. Selling something faulty was deemed to be fraud. In short, the value had been absolute and cost-based. The amount thus set was not market price, and was independent of the buyer or seller's calculation. Just price' was similar to the' fair value' of the present. Aquinas therefore distinguished between' just price' and' market price.' Law had decided just the price.

Aquinas used scientific reasoning for the theory of Just price