Introduction: Ethics and Moral Responsibilities in Finance

Abstract

In the above quote, the esteemed twelfth century Andalusian scholar and polymath was referring to the city of the soul, from Plato’s The Republic. Written in the fourth century BCE, The Republic takes the form of a dialogue between Socrates and a few of his companions attending a festival in the port of Athens, just outside the city. Socrates uses the city-soul metaphor in an attempt to address an age-old question of whether it is better to be just or unjust in one’s dealings with others. He does this only after hearing three different answers that each fall short in capturing the virtue of what it means to be ethical. For a wealthy retired merchant, who unsurprisingly frames his response in the narrow terms of wealth, it means paying one’s debts, keeping one’s word and offering expensive libations to the gods (331b). For the merchant’s son, a military officer, it is giving good things to friends and harm to one’s enemies (332b). Finally, a well-known teacher of rhetoric states categorically that justice is the advantage of the stronger (338c). While Socrates’ metaphorical exercise leads to an argument for justice as human reason ruling over passions and desires in order to create harmony in both the city and the soul (a subject we will return to later on), the inadequate answers of the three companions give us great insight into how many people actually think and act — particularly those in business and politics — as represented by the characters in The Republic.

‘There is no city that is truly one other than this city that we are involved in bringing forth’

Averroes