Francisco de Vitoria's economic value theory Economic value, appreciation and prices

Abstract

In this work I propose to develop what I consider to be the theory of economic value proposed by Vitoria. To do this, I will first analyze the Dominican's reception and criticism of the proposal made by Conrado Summenhart to know the value of goods. Next, I will focus on Vitoria's proposal. To do this, I will show that the Dominican makes a distinction between the “objective value” of goods and their “subjective valuation,” paying special attention to what I consider he assumes to be its three central components. Although for Vitoria ideally “objective value” and “subjective evaluation” should coincide, experience teaches that this often does not happen, and he is very aware of this. Finally, I will present some elements that accompany this Vitorian vision of economic value, highlighting how it attempts to combine objective and subjective elements in an original way.