John Locke's Notion of Money Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

John Locke's Notion of Money - Essay Example He bases this idea on the definition of labor. According to Locke, â€Å"The labor of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his† (V.27). This means that if one labors for something, that something naturally becomes his property. Therefore, labor determines property. This property then is assumed to be useful and â€Å"the intrinsic value of things†¦depends only on their usefulness to the life of man† (V.37). Therefore, property has value, and this value can only be represented by money. Therefore, if one has money, even if the property is gone, its value stays with its rightful owner. Furthermore, this means that since money does not decay, then it does not lose its value. In fact, money does not only have value but it also serves as a pledge or an agreement among people that they will honor its value through â€Å"mutual consent† (V.47). Lastly, according to Locke, money is a means to â€Å"enlarge† man’s possessions or property (V.48). Since money became a means to exchange useful goods and since different industries developed to give man different amounts of possessions, money became a means to own larger and larger property. ... If we rely on barter, we cannot exactly know how much of one thing can be justly or rightfully exchanged with another. Therefore, for Aristotle, â€Å"all good must†¦be measured by some one thing† and that only money can serve as a standard or it can provide the means to an equal exchange of goods (V.3). The idea of equal exchange is based on Aristotle’s idea of justice, which is the topic of the whole Chapter 5 of the Nicomachean Ethics. For Aristotle, the reason why money should be used as a basis of equality is that it is fixed and more stable than other criteria. For example, nobody can exactly say who is virtuous and whether virtuous people must receive more that those who are not. Money, however, is fixed and will give its owner the same value whether he is â€Å"more virtuous† than another person. Aristotle also states that money is â€Å"not always worth the same; yet it tends to be steadier† (V.3). This means that the value of money may chang e but it is still a better mode of exchange because it is not perishable. Moreover, money is â€Å"our surety,† which means that money is a guarantee or a pledge that its value will be honored by all men as it is â€Å"fixed by agreement† (V.3). This also means that even if now we do not need to use a product that money can buy, the fact that we have money means that we can still use this product in the future when we need it. Aristotle and John Locke on Money Aristotle and John Locke both have similar and different opinions on money. Nevertheless, Aristotle’s views seem more viable. Both philosophers believe that money is more or less a practical mode of exchange. According to John Locke, money does not decay like perishable goods such as corn and

Humanitarian Aid as a Strategic Response Assignment

Humanitarian Aid as a Strategic Response - Assignment Example From this paper it is clear that  any tragedy that is as big as that experienced in Japan that involves shocking destruction, homelessness, relocation, sudden loss of life as well as profound uncertainty concerning the future comes with severe risks of short and long term effects psychologically. The population of Japan is among some of the oldest in the globe since more than twenty percent of its people are older than sixty-five. This people have a higher vulnerability in regards to medical services, food and water being disrupted as well as regular schedules of critical medications.  This study discusses that the people of Japan have a culture of preparedness which is considerably different from that found in the US. Additionally, Japan is a relatively small country, so in the event that disaster strikes; it usually affects the entire nation. Japan is frequently hit by disasters which usually have uniform characteristics with all the people in the country being apprehensive abo ut earthquakes. Consequently, this has facilitated the establishment of a common culture of preparedness compared to other places such as the US that has a higher diversity of disasters that can be faced by particular communities as well as the people making up the population.  Experts in emergency preparedness have shown that the people are likely to prepare for any kind of disaster only when they have experiences that convince them that the disasters are likely to affect them.