Rebuilding the temple of graces: Gift-giving as the foundation of care

Abstract

The concept of "care" has recently emerged to expand the idea of rationality in economics, introducing insights that have traditionally been restricted to the so-called third sector (non-profit), and, as a result, questioning mainstream economics. This article is based on the thesis that the development and functionality of the market and the state are a result of something previous, i.e., the presence of the gift in social relations. The idea of the gift is related with charis, which is at the root of care and is in addition closely related to the religious concepts of grace and charity. In order to show that this notion was present in the Western classical tradition- from Aristotle to Scholastic thought-this article traces the foundation and evolution of money through the lens of social interaction in terms of friendship and fraternity. Finally, it suggests that a social order based exclusively on contractual exchange relations is a consequence of an interpretation of the gift as a pure and generous gesture without the moral obligation of reciprocity. In opposition to that thesis, critics of modern economics, including feminist and Catholic thinkers, come together to defend the superiority of gift over contract, that is to say, of distributive over commutative justice.