The Social Philosophy of Adam Smith

178 Pages·1973·11.14 MB·English

by  J. Ralph Lindgren (auth.)

THE SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY OF ADAM SMITH
ARCHIVES INTERNA T10NALES D'HISTOIRE DES IDEES
INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE HIS TOR Y OF IDEAS
Series minor
8
J. RALPH LINDGREN
THE SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY OF ADAM SMITH
Directors: P. Dibon (Paris) and R. Popkin (Univ. of California, La Jolla)
Editorial board: J. Aubin (Paris); J. Collins (St. Louis Univ.); P. Costabel (paris);
A. Crombie (Oxford); I. Dambska (Cracow); H. de laFontaine-Verwey (Amsterdam);
H. Gadamer (Heidelberg); H. Gouhier (paris); T. Gregory (Rome); T. E. Jessop
(Hull); P. O. Kristeller (Columbia Univ.); Elisabeth Labrousse (paris); S. Lindroth
(Upsala); A. Lossky (Los Angeles); J.Orcibal (Paris); I. S. Revaht (Paris); J. Roger
(Paris); H. Rowen (Rutgers Univ., N.J.); G. Sebba (Emory Univ., Atlanta); R.
Shackleton (Oxford); J. Tans (Groningen); G. Tonelli (Binghamton, N.Y.).
THE SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY
OF ADAM SMITH
by
J. RALPH LINDGREN
•
MARTINUS NIJHOFF ! THE HAGUE / 1973
@ 1973 by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherkmds
Softcover reprint oft he hardcover 1st edition 1973
All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to
reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form
ISBN-13: 978-90-247-1533-6 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-2440-2
DOl: 10.10071978-94-010-2440-2
For Shirley, Thomas, Michael, David,
Timothy and Kathryn
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface IX
Chronology xv
Table of Abbreviations XVI
I. INQUIRY
II. MORAL JUDGMENT 20
III. PSYCHOLOGY 39
IV. GOVERNMENT 60
V. COMMERCE 84
VI. COMMERCIAL POLICY 110
VII. RELIGION 133
Works Cited 153
Index 159
PREFACE
Adam Smith was one of the most important seminal social philosophers
at
of modern times. Although his great masterpiece - the Wealth Nations
- is most frequently associated with the field of economics, it has exer
cised a profound and abiding influence not only in that but in all areas
of social theory and practice as well. In view of this it is not a little
puzzling that after nearly two centuries there does not exist a single
reliable account of the full range of his social philosophy.
The "circumstances which have contributed to this void in the literature
are easily identified. All who are at all familiar with Smith's life and
writings recognize that he was a philosopher by profession and that all
his writings were conceived and executed as works of philosophy. During
his lifetime his work was viewed iIi that perspective. At about the time
of his death in 1790, however, Smith's work was eclipsed in the field of
philosophy by Hume and Reid in Great Britain and Kant on the conti
nent. Thereafter the interpretation of his writings was taken up by those
who were profoundly interested in only one aspect of his work, viz., his
political economy. In the process of explicating that feature of his
thought the social philosophy upon which his political economy was
based and of which it was but one application was at first ignored and
then represented as rather simplistic. His supposed advocacy of" 'bour
geois economics,' that is the economics of those economists who look
with favour on working and trading and investing for personal gain"
(Cannan 1926, p. 129) is generally believed to have derived from a
perspective which is strongly reminiscent of the one so eloquently ex
pressed by Alexander Pope in his Essay on Man. Smith is said not only
to have believed that "whatever in the long run is, is right" (Campbell
at
1971, p. 53), but to have based his entire Wealth Nations on another
of Pope's theses.
Thus God and Nature linked the gen'ral frame, and bade Self-love and Social
be the same.
x PREFACE
Over the past half-century these and other popular caricatures of Smith's
views have been shown to be distortions of the historical record (see. for
example. Viner 1927; Ginzberg 1934; Bittennann 1940). Recently Wil
liam Grampp found existing commentaries to be so unreliable that he
simply ignored them: "There is not space enough. nor have I the incli
nation to contend with [Smith's] major critics. ... I do wish to make it
clear that my objection to the commentaries is that they are mistaken"
(1965. vol. II. p. 4). This was certainly an over-reaction. It has been
largely due to the work of a few careful scholars that we now know how
misleading the popular image of Smith's social philosophy is.
Before proceeding it is essential to recognize if not understand how and
why so much distortion has crept into this particular chapter of intel
lectual history. Unless the repeated strategic mistakes of previous
students of Smith are recognized they are apt to be repeated. Fortunately
these can be identified without launching into an essay on the method
ology of historical research in the field of philosophy. The principal
obstacles to achieving a reliable understanding of Smith's social philoso
phy have been clear for some time. On the one hand. his aims have
typically been neglected.
Adam Smith undoubtedly started with the purpose of giving to the world a com
plete social philosophy. He accomplished the greater part of his design. and yet
is seldom remembered except for his economical work and only for part of that.
(Bonar 1893. p. 149)
The tendency of Smith's commentators to ignore or at least neglect his
overall objectives and instead to be satisfied with piecemeal interpre
tations may be explained in a variety of ways. Certainly one explanation
is the difficulty of the task. In this connection Alexander Gray was
certainly right to observe that "Adam Smith is difficult to apprehend in
his totality for the perverse reason that he is in parts so regrettably well
known" (1931. pp. 123-4). This. however. does not explain why his aims
are neglected even when interpreting those parts of his work which are
well known to every schoolboy.
On the other hand Smith's interpreters frequently proceed by accom
modating his views to their interests. categories and paradigms. In this
connection V. W. Bladen complained of "The self-centered expectation
that other economists must be striving to answer the question we ask:
When the answer fails to satisfy we treat it as one more error on the part
of our predecessors ..." (1960. p. 625). What Bladen does not seem to
appreciate is that this tendency to interpret the expressed views of an
ancestor by attempting to show how those views fit into our perspectives.
answer our questions. further our objectives. has its roots in the habit
PREFACE XI
of what Thomas Kuhn calls "normal science" and not in some "self
centered" eccentricity. Kuhn observed that those who are convinced that
they have the right answers or at least are asking the right questions and
are on the right track to those answers come to perceive the earlier
classics in their field "as leading in a straight line to the discipline's
present perspective" (1962, p. 166). This tendency is evident as early as
Aristotle and as recently as Schumpeter. This, of course, does not vindi
cate such practices as any less parochial than Bladen suggested. Still,
such scientists oUght not to be faulted because they organized their
scientific research in strict compliance with current canons of scientific
practice. Their mistake lies in presuming that the canons currently ap
propriate to the practice of scientific research are likewise the canons
appropriate to the practice of historical research into earlier work in the
same field. Wesley Mitchell recognized this and suggested that the
history of economic theory "may fairly be said to be outside the field
of economics, in the field of intellectual history" (1967, vol. I, p. 7). Be
that as it may, it seems clear that the only reliable bases for interpreting
the writings of any man, especially a philosopher, are his own interests,
categories, and paradigms.
My primary purpose in this volume is to present a more reliable and
comprehensive account of the social philosophy of Adam Smith than is
presently available. In pursuing this objective every effort is made to
avoid the difficulties experienced by previous students of Smith by
undertaking the interpretation of his thought from his own perspective.
A sympathetic understanding of the views of a Scottish social philosopher
whose active years spanned the third quarter of the eighteenth century,
before western civilization had been transformed by the combined impact
of the American, French, and Industrial revolutions, is not as easily
attained as is commonly believed. In undertaking this project I have
tried to preserve the balance and doctrinal dependencies which Smith
espoused. Since the most reliable evidence of what Smith thought is
what he said and especially what he wrote and published or permitted
to be published under his own name, I have concentrated my efforts on
his Essays on Philosophical Subjects, Theory of Moral Sentiments,
"Considerations Concerning the First Formation of Languages" and
Wealth of Nations. Lesser attention is given to his two sets of "lectures"
and biographical data is used sparingly. Throughout I have tried to take
full advantage of the sound contributions of previous students of Smith
while at the same time avoiding those procedures which have proven
to be sources of distortion. Finally, all speculation as to alleged influ
ences on or by Smith as well as his rightful place in the history of phi-
XII PREFACE
losophy. economiCS. sociology. etc. is avoided. Insofar as my findings
are valid these relationships appear to be in need of thorough reconsider
ation.
Throughout this volume I have insisted that we accommodate our
interpretation of Smith·s work to his interests. methods and objectives.
I know of no alternative seeing that our aim is to understand him. Still.
this approach places severe strain upon the imagination of readers -
especially those who are in the habit of regarding his work as an episode
in the development of a currently fashionable scientific theory or politi
cal attitude. Several stylistic devices have been employed in order to
ease this burden. Hopefully these will also minimize the occasions of
misunderstanding. to which this study is susceptible because its sympa
thetic approach to Smith·s writings differs so sharply from the one we
have grown accustomed to expect.
First. I have treated what I take to be the essential core of any ade
quate account of Smith·s social philosophy in six largely independent
units each. with the exception of chapters five and six. in a sepa,rate
chapter. In this way I hope to gradually introduce the reader who is
acquainted with only one aspect of Smith·s work to the full range of his
thought. The integrity of his total philosophical position as well as the
final cogency of each of its aspects will become apparent by following
out the cross-references within the text of each chapter. This is especially
important in the case of chapters five and six which in many ways form
the climax of this study.
Second. I have. wherever considerations of accuracy permit. ap
proached each unit within the context of the present state of the litera
ture. In this way I have tried to maintain maximum continuity with the
work of previous Smithian commentators. It was possible to follow this
approach in every case except that of chapters five and six. There I
preferred. for reasons already indicated. to approach the Wealth Q/
Nations from within the context of Smith·s own moral philosophy and
according to his own method of inquiry. To have done otherwise would
have resulted in devoting an unacceptably extended portion of those
chapters to purely academic polemics. Those interested in my views on
the major alternatives to my interpretation will not find them difficult
to locate in the text and footnotes of those chapters.
Third. I have suggested contemporary theorists whose work in certain
respects parallel positions I attribute to Smith. In doing so I do not
mean either to imply an "influence" or to defend the positions cited. but
only to provide an additional vantage point from which readers who
are acquainted with contemporary theorists might be better able to