The ethics of labour in the Muqaddima by Ibn Khaldūn

This article focuses on the classification of the arts and crafts and on ethics of labour as laid out in the 5th chapter of the Muqaddima by Ibn Khaldūn. He envisions a “free market” economy, where labour creates the value of commodities. Prices are given by the amount of labour that is necessary for the production of a commodity, but because there is no universal concept of the value and utility of a good detached from each individual’s specific needs, the “right price” is arrived at through the mechanism of supply and demand: this creates the difference between the value and price of a given commodity. Mercantile society is the great springboard of development, as it allows for the division of labour making it possible for everyone to partake in others’ productivity, and fostering a constant increase of wealth. Ibn Khaldūn presents exchange as the realization of human nature, and mercantile society as the perfect form of social relationship. Indeed, the birth and development of urban civilization depends on its ability to organize productive labour forms within itself. This is the necessary condition for the creation of the surplus that marks the passage from Bedouin to urban life.