Commerce and Strangers in Adam Smith

242 Pages·2018·1.66 MB·English

by  Shinji Nohara

Shinji Nohara
Commerce and Strangers in Adam
Smith
Shinji Nohara
Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
ISBN 978-981-10-9013-4 e-ISBN 978-981-10-9014-1
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-9014-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018940402
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Preface
This work is the product of various encounters and interactions. Nicholas
Phillipson gave kind counsel to me, when he came to Japan to see the
archives of Adam Smith’s Library at the University of Tokyo. His visit to the
Library was my unforgettable and wonderful memories. When preparing for this
book, Maria Pia Paganelli read and advised on all the manuscripts. When I was
at Cambridge in 2017, John Robertson also gave me helpful suggestions. I owe
him a lot. Hideo Tanaka, my mentor, helped my research, as always. Daisuke
Arie’s advice inspired me a lot. Tomoji Onozuka encouraged my study. Hiroshi
Mizuta gave me a valued suggestion. John Dunn also gave me a tip on my
research. Craig Smith gave suggestive counsel to me. He also visited Adam
Smith’s Library at the University of Tokyo. It’s my wonderful experiences
that we have been researching Adam Smith’s books and marginalia. Shinsaku
Otsu helped with my research. Koji Yamamoto helped my research. I owe a lot
to all of them.
I would also like to thank Charles L. Griswold, Jr., R. P. Hanley, Naoki
Haraya, Naoki Hayashi, Shunji Ishihara, Hiroaki Itai, Seiichiro Ito, Masashi
Izumo, Yoshie Kawade, Hiroyuki Kojima, Atsushi Komine, Shin Kubo, Akihito
Matsumoto, Yuki Moriwaki, Akihiko Murai, Takayuki Nagai, Tsutomu Nakano,
Nobuhiko Nakazawa, Tatsuya Sakamoto, Masanobu Sato, Tokutaro Shibata,
Hisashi Shinohara, Yuri Shiomi, Ryu Susato, Masanori Taishido, Tetsuo Taka,
Tomoyuki Uemiya, Hiroki Ueno, Masataka Yano, and Hiroshi Yoshikawa for
their encouragement on my research.
Still further, I must thank colleagues, staffs, and students at the University of
Tokyo for their support of my research. In addition, I must also thank Koichi
Yamada, Yoshinori Yokoyama, and lecturers and colleagues of Todai EMP
(Executive Management Program) for their encouragement of my study.
This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI, Grant Number 26780132
(2014–2016), and the Tokyo Marine Kagami Memorial Foundation (2018).
Finally, I am always indebted to my family, friends, and all of the
researchers and people I have met on this remarkable journey. This book is the
outcome of my encounter with each of them.
Shinji Nohara
Tokyo, Japan
Abbreviations
Corr. Smith, Adam. 1987. The correspondence of Adam Smith , E. C.
Mossner and I. S. Ross (eds.), Indianapolis: Liberty Fund
ER Smith, Adam. 1982. “A LETTER to the Authors of the Edinburgh
Review ,” in Essays on philosophical subject s, W. P. D. Wightman and
J. C. Bryce (eds.), Indianapolis: Liberty Fund
LJ Smith, Adam. 1982. Lectures on jurisprudence . R. L. Meek, D. D.
Raphael. and P. G. Stein (eds.), Indianapolis: Liberty Fund [ LJ(A) =
“Report of 1762-63,” and LJ(B) = “Report dated 1766”]
TMS Smith, Adam. 1984. The theory of moral sentiments , D. D. Raphael
and A. L. Stein (eds.), Indianapolis: Liberty Fund
WN Smith, Adam. 1982. An Inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth
of nations . R. H. Campbell, A. S. Skinner and W. B. Tood (eds.),
Indianapolis: Liberty Fund
Contents
1 Introduction
1 Adam Smith, the Age of Globalization, and Strangers
2 Problems of the Enlightenment Thinkers in Considering the World
3 Smith and Strangers: The Purpose and Contributions
4 The Methodology Used in This Book
5 Content
6 Appendix 1: The Japanese Scholarship on Smith’s Theories
2 Travel Literature and the Enlightenment World
1 Introduction
2 The Enlightenment Thinkers and Travel Literature
3 Smith and North America
4 Smith and the East India Company
5 Conclusion
3 Fellows and Strangers in The Theory of Moral Sentiments
1 Introduction
2 Secondary Literature
3 Cultural Strangers and Morality
4 Moral Sentiments and a Stranger
5 Society and Behavioral Theory
6 The Limit of Justice
7 Patriotism and War
8 Universal Justice in Contest: Hume and Smith
9 Impartial Spectator as an Individual Ethic
10 Conclusion
4 Adam Smith’s Historical Politics
1 Introduction
2 Hereditary Jurisdiction in Scotland and the Scottish Enlightenment
3 The Historical Development of Laws from Feudalism to Modern
Liberty
4 The Four Stages Theory and the Evolution of the Legal and Political
Systems
5 The Conditions of the Liberty of People
6 International Theory
7 Conclusion
5 Adam Smith on Regularity and Irregularity in Sentiments: Morality and
Prudence
1 Introduction
2 Irregularity and Rules in Moral Sentiments
2.1 The Irregularity of Moral Sentiments
2.2 The General Rules
2.3 Hume and Smith on Convention and the General Rules
3 Regularity of Economic Sentiments in TMS
4 Regularity and Irregularity of Economic Behavior in WN
5 Conclusion
6 Adam Smith on Money and the Impact of Encountering Strangers
1 Introduction
2 Hume’s Theory of Money
3 Smith on Monetary Fluctuations
4 The Scottish Bubble
5 Paper Money
6 Conclusion
7 Adam Smith on Markets
1 Introduction
2 Markets in Reality
3 Prices and Self-Regulating Mechanism Before Smith
4 The Market Mechanism: Time and Space
5 The Dynamics of Equilibrium and Wages
6 The Dynamics of Equilibrium and Rent
7 The Dynamics of Equilibrium and the Profit of Capital
8 Money and the Limit of Equilibrium
9 International Interaction and the Limit of Equilibrium
10 Conclusion
8 Encountering the World: The Model of International Trade
1 Introduction
2 Merchants in Smith’s Age
3 Smith’s Model of International Trade
4 The Restraint of Foreign Trade
5 Encountering the World: The International Shift of Capital
6 Encountering the World: Migration
7 Conclusion
9 Conclusion
1 Concluding Remarks
2 Summary of the Book
3 Overview and Implications
References
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018
Shinji Nohara, Commerce and Strangers in Adam Smith, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-9014-1_1
1. Introduction
Shinji Nohara1
(1) Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Shinji Nohara Email: [email protected]
1 Adam Smith, the Age of Globalization, and Strangers
In 1765, when Adam Smith (1723–90), a Scottish moral philosopher and known
as the founder of classical political economics, was staying in Toulouse, France,
he received a letter from David Hume (1711–1776). Hume was Smith’s friend
and known as a path-breaking philosopher in Scotland. Then, Hume was staying
in Paris. Hume wrote, “Paris is the most agreeable Town in Europe, and suits me
best; but it is a foreign Country. London is the Capital of my own Country; but it
never pleasd [sic] me much. Letters are there held in no honour: Scotsmen are
hated” (Corr., 87, 5 Sep. 1765). Smith replied to Hume, writing, “A man is
always displaced in a forreign [sic] Country, and notwithstanding the boasted
humanity and politeness of this Nation…Your objections to London appear to
me to be without foundation. The hatred of Scotch men can subsist, even at
present, among nobody but the stupidest of the People.” Especially, in Hume’s
case, “the Clamour against you on account of Deism is stronger, no doubt, at
London where you are a Native and consequently may be a candidate for
everything, than at Paris where as a forreigner [sic], you possibly can be a
candidate for nothing” (Corr., 88, Sept. 1765). This interchange suggests that
Smith and Hume as Scotchmen did not like the English hatred against the
Scotch. Although, following the Union between England and Scotland in 1707,
both countries became united as Britain, Smith and Hume still shared an
ambivalence toward the English. As Robertson argued, especially since the
Scottish debate on the Union, many Scotch had felt psychological distance to the
English (Robertson 2005). Even though Hume and Smith affirmed the union