Metaphysics and economy – the problem of interest: A comparison of the practice and ethics of interest in Islamic and Christian cultures

Abstract

Understanding the differences in the Islamic and Christian view of interest requires coming to terms not with the acts constitutive of the practice but the meaning of the practice in two different views of what an economy produces and delivers. The difference in the norms that govern interest transactions differ because the metaphysical foundations about what the practice means differ. The Islamic norms are broader via public accountability for the good produced by an economy as a social good than the normative regulation of interest transactions in Christian cultures that focuses on the goods delivered by an economy to more or less independent individuals participating in an economy. However, some reconciliation of the Christian and Islamic view is possible when we recognize that the ethical accountability of interest rests on a view of economic justice as increasing the degree of economic participation in an economy as an economic and social good. When this view is taken, we see that the range of potentially illicit practices in Christian economies is larger than is actually the case in the actual regulation of interest transactions.

Citation

Sauer, J.B. (2002), "Metaphysics and economy – the problem of interest: A comparison of the practice and ethics of interest in Islamic and Christian cultures", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 29 No. 1/2, pp. 97-118. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068290210413010