Wealth, Habits and Happiness. Chrematistics in Aristotle's Ethics

Aristotle considers a life dedicated to money-making not worth living, as it is subject to constraints and based on a perverse conception of wealth. However, he assigns money instrumental value as something indispensable to happiness, and acknowledges the presence of natural drives related to wealth in every agent. This article attempts to clarify Aristotle’s views as to what the function of wealth is in relation to a good life, what guarantees the correct use of riches, and how it is possible to promote the exercising of natural chrematistics in the face of the spread of perverse forms of the pursuit of gain. The article will then show which virtues are related to wealth – i.e. generosity, magnificence, and justice or fairness – and how they relate to the opposite vices – i.e. prodigality and meanness, extravagance and miserliness, and injustice or unfairness. The aim will be to explain why the Aristotelian investigation of good and bad habits related to the use of wealth is complementary to the investigation of the genesis of economic phenomena, and aimed at practically ensuring a chrematistics perfectly integrated into ethics and politics.