ABSTRACT
Communities lacking reciprocity are unstable, for citizens who are exploited due to the absence of reciprocity, "return evil for evil." In ancient Athens, reciprocity included redistribution as a subordinate method of social integration. For Aristotle, reciprocity appears in the role of relative social status or power in a transaction. Aristotle was the first to apply such a ratio to social welfare analysis. In accordance with the use of that inequality ratio in exchange formulae, Aristotle holds that all relationships of exchange are asymmetrical. Aristotle is interested in the extent to which citizens exploit or benefit each other in relation to their relative social status. Aristotle adopts his own version because he is not blind to the effect of inequality in exchange. Rawls recognizes that imbalances, inequalities, will come to be, and with the difference principle attempts to prevent them from becoming overwhelming for the weak.
