De Iustitia et Iure (On Justice and Law)
1553
Summary
Domingo de Soto’s systematic treatment of justice and law, published in 1553. Soto develops a rigorous natural law analysis of property rights, the just price, usury, and commercial ethics. His treatment of the just price, as determined by common market estimation rather than by moral decree, contributed to the emerging understanding that voluntary exchange and market prices have an inherent legitimacy grounded in natural law.