Telos and Markets: Aristotle, Burke, and Hayek on the Role of Economics in the Wider Social Order

Aristotle’s objection to unlimited commercial exchange as an unnatural activity governed by no moral constraints or teleological aims continues to endure as a powerful criticism of markets. This article applies this criticism to the thought of Edmund Burke and F. A. Hayek. It argues that whereas Hayek’s suspicion of teleology and a hierarchy of ends does leave his embrace of market economies vulnerable to Aristotle’s criticism, Burke overcomes this objection by explicitly subordinating commerce to the religious and moral imperatives of a nation.