sign in sign up
<<
Home , Adam Smith, John Locke, Liberalism

, Civic , and the Case of Smith Author(s): Edward J. Harpham Source: The American Political Review, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Sep., 1984), pp. 764-774 Published by: American Political Science Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1961842 Accessed: 01-07-2016 16:52 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms

JSTOR is a not-for-profit that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use technology and tools to increase and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

American Political Science Association, Cambridge University Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The American Political Science Review

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use to http://about.jstor.org/terms 764

Liberalism, Civic Humanism, and the Case of

EDWARD J. HARPHAM The University of Texs at Dallas

In this article, I examine critically Donald Winch's interpretation of the of Adam Smith. I explain how Winch wrests Smith's political out of the larger vision of commercial that is found in his moral, political, and economic writings, and how Winch misreads Smith's under- standing of particularpoliticalproblems such as the dehumanized workforce and the standing army. I also show how Winch's civic humanist reading of Smith's political thought fails to appreciate Smith's liberal conceptualizations of corruption and public-mindedness in a modern commercial society. Finally, I suggest that our failure to understand the politics of Adam Smith does not lie in our liberal interpretation of his work, as Winch claims, but in our understanding of what constitutes liberal political .

The of virtue and corruption have terpretations has been the work od J. 0. A. played a major role in the history of political Pocock. thought since the ancient Greeks. Traditionally, According to Pocock, there emerged in post- histories of political thought have associated the 1688 a purely secular form of social criti- decline of these concepts with the of liberal- cism that drew heavily upon the civic humanist ism in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth tradition of Florence in order to centuries, and in the nineteenth and understand the impact of an expanding commer- twentieth centuries (Cropsey, 1957; Cumming, cial upon English political life. Rejecting 1969; Sabine, 1961; Wolin, 1960). A growing in- or minimizing the role of the in the terest in the economic forces underlying political marketplace, or of the merchant class in the econ- change is seen to displace gradually classical at- omy, this civic humanism was based upon a per- tempts to view politics through moral categories, ception of changes in the role of the individual as and to give rise to a modern mechanistic view of citizen, and in the autonomous citizen's ability to the political order. perform certain political and military . The Over the past 15 years, a number of important function of in the civic humanist para- attempts have been made to reinterpret seven- digm was to insure the of each in- teenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century dividual citizen in the performance of one's thought through a reading of the republican or duties. Property, particularly landed or real prop- civic humanist tradition (Bailyn, 1967; Kramnick, erty, was perceived to be the foundation upon 1968; Pocock, 1973, 1975a, b; Robbins, 1959; which an individual's civic and civic Wood, 1972). Focusing upon the central role virtue rested. played by the concepts of virtue and corruption in Pocock's interpretation has culminated in a the republican tradition, these studies have led to serious reevaluation of the importance of liberal a striking revisionist understanding of an evolving modes of thought in the seventeenth and eigh- Anglo-American tradition of political discourse. teenth centuries. For Pocock, civic humanist Among the most prominent of the revisionist in- writers were "the first on record to express an entirely secular awareness of social and economic changes going on in their society, and to say specifically that these changes affected both their values and their modes of perceiving " Received: October 17, 1983 Accepted for publication: December 21, 1983 (1975b, p. 461). Civic humanists did not investi- gate the dynamics of the marketplace nor did they I would like to thank Robert Cumming, Merle Levy, accept the assumptions of "possessive individual- Michael Levy, and Alan Stone for their assistance in ism." They analyzed the modes of property which reading and discussing earlier drafts of the article. I also would like to thank the Institute for Humane Studies left men unduly dependent upon others from the for its support. An earlier version of the article was pre- property-personality-civic autonomy matrix. To sented at the 1983 meetings of the Southwestern Politi- the degree to which emerging social types such as cal Science Association. the monied could not conform to these

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1984 Liberalism, Civic Humanism and Adam Smith 765 criteria, civic humanists denounced them as of his work, but in our understanding of what undermining or corrupting the social and eco- constitutes liberal political discourse. nomic foundations upon which the polity rested. To the degree to which these social types could Winch's Smith conform to these criteria, civic humanists cham- pioned them as forces promoting virtue and At the heart of Winch's reading of Adam stabilizing the political order.' Smith's politics lies an attempt to recover a lost In Adam Smith's Politics, Donald Winch has political dimension to Smith's thought. Accord- written "an in historical revision" that ing to Winch (1978, p. 26), "Smith employs a draws heavily upon the civic humanist interpreta- consistent method or style of political analysis in tion of eighteenth-century thought. By placing his writings and lectures which cannot readily be Smith in the context of civic humanism, Winch encompassed within the categories of the liberal seeks to show how Smith's political views were capitalist perspective." In order to understand affected by attitudes that were not liberal- this lost dimension "it is necessary to bear in capitalist in orientation and to explain why that he is frequently employing a well-established Smith's politics were not simply an episode "that public language for discussing such matters-a occurred some way along a road which runs from language, the resonances of which were already Locke to Marx" (1978, p. 180). Far from repre- well known to the educated members of his im- senting the cutting edge of a liberal vision of the mediate audience" (1978, p. 5). Surprisingly, world, the politics of Adam Smith were part of Winch's explanation of exactly what this "well- the evolving tradition of seventeenth- and eigh- established public language" encompasses is teenth-century civic humanism. rather vague. Constant references to the work of In this article I examine critically the Winch in- J. G. A. Pocock and his ongoing attempt to read terpretation of Adam Smith's political thought. I Smithian political in light of the property- argue that Winch's civic humanist reading of personality equation found in the civic humanist Adam Smith's politics has led to a serious mis- tradition leave little doubt that the "public understanding of Smith's thought. Winch wrests language" Winch is referring to is civic human- Smith's political thought out of the larger vision ism. Indeed, chapters 4-7 demonstrate a sys- of commercial society that is found in his moral, tematic attempt to read Smith's analysis of par- political, and economic writings. As a result, ticular political questions of the day, such as the Winch fails to appreciate the degree to which question of the relationship between commerce Smith's understanding of particular political and , the problem of a dehumanized work- problems, such as a dehumanized workforce or force, the public debt issue, and the standing- the standing army, exists not only outside the army controversy, in terms of the ideas of con- of civic humanist thought, but in direct op- temporary civic humanist writers. position to it. I also explain why Winch's analysis The problem with Winch's civic humanist read- fails to appreciate Smith's "liberal" concep- ing of Smith's politics is that it ultimately fails to tualizations of the problem of corruption and come to terms with the broader world view that public-mindedness in a modern commercial socie- structures Smith's analysis of particular political ty and how these, too, stand outside the orbit problems of the day. This world view does not of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century civic work out of the assumptions or the logic of the humanism. Smith's vision of commercial society, traditional civic humanist language of discourse, his understanding of what holds it , and nor does it reflect a suspicious outlook toward the his into what threatens to undermine it are modern commercial order as is found in the work a far cry from seventeenth- and eighteenth- of most civic humanists. Indeed, the Smithian century civic humanist thought. Our failure to world view both accepts and champions the understand the politics of Adam Smith does not modern commercial order. The difference be- lie, as Winch claims, in our liberal interpretation tween Smith's of commercial - ism and that found in civic humanism can be best appreciated by looking briefly at two aspects of Smith's thought: his analysis of the rise of com- mercial in Book III of The of 'Kramnick (1982) recently has suggested that the civic Nations, and his use of the "four-stage theory" in humanist interpretation has gone too far in its attempt to read Lockean liberalism out of eighteenth-century Book IV. Anglo-American political thought. Macpherson (1962), Meek (1967, 1977), and Hirschman (1977) also provide Of Commerce and Liberty alternative interpretations of the development of politi- cal and economic ideas in eighteenth-century Anglo- There is little doubt that Smith draws heavily American political thought. upon the historical arguments developed by David

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 766 The American Political Science Review Vol. 78

Hume in the essays "Of Commerce" and "Of primarily to move beyond civic humanist thought, Refinement in the Arts" as well as in The History but to explain historically why, despite earlier suc- of England. Smith himself credits Hume with be- cesses, the mercantile system posed a serious ing the first modern writer to understand the rela- threat to future . To appreciate tionship between commerce and liberty (1965, p. the political import of the historical arguments 385). For Winch, the Humean connection puts developed by Smith in Book III of The Wealth of Smith's thought solidly in the civic humanist Nations, they must be read in light of his larger tradition because "Hume's language and mode of economic arguments and his critique of the mer- conducting his argument ... can also be described cantile system. in terms of the civic humanist perspective" (1978, Book I of centers p. 74). around a discussion of the role played by the divi- There are a number of problems with this inter- sion of labor in promoting economic growth. pretation. First, it fails to appreciate the larger Book II focuses on the role played by the accumu- political impetus behind Hume's political and lation and use of capital. Two ideas lie at the heart philosophical writings. Hume did not develop his of Smith's capital theory. First, Smith asserts that historical arguments about the relationship be- the accumulation of capital is a necessary pre- tween commerce and liberty in the modern world condition to the division of labor. As the division in order to criticize modern commercial society of labor advances, an increasing amount of capi- from within a civic humanist perspective. As tal must be accumulated beforehand in order to Forbes (1975) has shown, he developed it to move provide workers with the equipment and materials contemporary thinking about politics beyond the necessary for production (1965, pp. 259-260). narrow -country debate within which civic Second, he maintains that there is a distinction humanist arguments thrived. Ultimately, Hume between productive and nonproductive labor. sought to explain why commerce tended to pro- "The annual produce of the land and labour of mote, rather than to undercut, liberty in the any nation can be increased in its by no modern world. other means, but by increasing either the number A second problem with this interpretation is of its productive labourers, or the productive that it fails to appreciate how antithetical the powers of those labourers who had before been of liberty found in Hume's historical writ- employed" (1965, p. 326). In other words, capital ings and in Smith's economic writings is to the expended on nonproductive activities is con- civic humanist mind. Both Hume and Smith agree sidered to be wasted capital, at least in terms of with their civic humanist contemporaries that promoting economic growth and increasing the had undercut liberty by fostering condi- wealth of . tions of economic and social dependency. But the Book II concludes with a discussion of why liberty that Hume and Smith believe accompany capital can be used more fruitfully in one sector of the "order and good " introduced by the economy than in another in light of these two commerce and manufactures is not that found in ideas. Smith notes that capital employed in the civic humanism. For the civic humanist, the retail can support those productive shop- of liberty is integrally connected to the idea of the keepers and tradesmen who sell directly to the independent citizen who is capable of engaging in consumer. In their profits "consists the whole politics and of acting in the public interest. Lib- value which its adds to the annual erty thus is conceived in a highly positive manner produce of the land and labour of the society" along the lines of classical Greek thought. In con- (1965, p. 343). Capital can also be used to pro- trast, the notion of liberty discussed by Hume and mote the transportation of crude and manufac- Smith is a mean, almost entirely . tured products from where they abound to where Commerce and manufacture do not create the they are needed. Employing capital in this manner economic conditions that might enable citizens to not only directly supports the productive activities engage in political activity. They only free in- of wholesale merchants, but also indirectly puts dividuals from the dependency found in the into the labor of the farmer and the manu- feudal system. Thus although the marketplace facturer. "Its operation in both these respects is a frees from immediate personal servi- good deal superior to that of the capital of the tude, it does not make them into autonomous, in- retailer" (1965, p. 344). Capital also can be use( dependent citizens. in the manufacture and preparation of ray The most disturbing problem with this interpre- materials and produce for immediate use and con tation is its failure to understand the role that this sumption, which puts into motion an even greater anti-civic humanist line of argument played in the quantity of productive labor than does an equal larger line of argument developed in The Wealth amount in the hands of a wholesale merchant of Nations. Smith's analysis of the relationship Finally, Smith notes that capital can be employer between commerce and liberty is not developed in obtaining the crude produce needed for the us

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1984 Liberalism, Civic Humanism and Adam Smith 767 and of society. "The capital em- inverted." Modern Europeans often find it more ployed in agriculture, therefore, not only puts to their advantage to employ their capital in dis- into motion a greater quantity of productive tant foreign commerce, even though much of the labour than any equal capital employed in manu- land in their own country remains underdevel- factures, but in proportion too to the quantity of oped or uncultivated. In addition, he points out productive labour which it employs, it adds a that manufacture and commerce were responsible much greater value to the annual produce of the for giving birth to the major improvements in land and labour of the country, to wealth agriculture in Europe. In contrast to Hume, and revenue of its inhabitants." Capital used in Smith thus is not interested primarily in explain- agriculture was considered to be "by far the most ing how commerce had promoted, rather than advantageous to the society" (1965, p. 345). undermined, liberty in the modern world. In- Smith's economic understanding of the place of stead, he wants to explain what circumstances agriculture in a commercial society clearly lies forced European states "necessarily . . . into this outside the civic humanist matrix of property- unnatural and retrograde order" (1965, p. 360). personality-virtue. Agriculture is important not For Smith, this boils down to understanding how because it is the foundation upon which civic vir- some political arrangements stifled natural tue rests, but because it is the optimal sector for economic growth, whereas others promoted a allocating capital. This point is reemphasized in seemingly unnatural form. chapter 1 of Book III of The Wealth of Nations, The "economic" problematic that underlies "Of the Natural of Opulence," where Smith's historical arguments is clearly evident in Smith describes optimal capital allocation under three of the four chapters of Book III. In chapter conditions of natural liberty. 2 Smith explains how the feudal of According to Smith, a man naturally prefer and entails were responsible for to employ his capital in the improvement and undermining the natural progress of opulence cultivation of land, rather than in trade or manu- from the fall of Rome to the modern commercial facture, given equal or nearly equal profits. "The era. Because the great feudal landlords simply man who employs his capital in land, has it more lacked the ability or the incentive to cultivate and under his view and command, and his fortune is improve the land, stimulus for economic growth much less liable to accidents, than that of the in the countryside ultimately had to come from trader, who is obliged frequently to commit it, not some sector of the economy that had escaped the only to the winds and the waves, but to the more restrictions of feudal and custom. In chapter uncertain elements of human folly and injustice, 3 he describes how towns and cities gradually by giving great credits in distant countries to men, freed themselves from the political rule of the whose character and situation he can seldom be feudal landlords. Finally, in chapter 4 he discusses thoroughly acquainted" (1965, p. 358). Similarly, the impact that independent town life had upon given equal or near equal profits, a man will European . naturally prefer to employ capital in domestic For Smith, unlike Hume, the significance of the manufacturing than in foreign commerce. As rise and development of commerce out of in- Smith explains, "As the capital of the landlord or dependent town life does not lie simply in the farmer is more secure than that of the manufac- political fact that it introduced good government turer, so the capital of the manufacturer, at and liberty into the modern world; it lies in the all more within his view and command, is economic fact that the modern mercantile order more secure than that of the foreign merchant" had developed contrary to the natural order of (1965, p. 359). In other words, according to a things. In the past, foreign commerce had been "natural progress of opulence," capital is the leading sector of economic growth and had directed in a growing commercial society first to been responsible for stimulating growth in all agriculture, then to manufacture, and finally to other sectors of the economy. As Smith's capital foreign commerce. "This order of things is so theory shows, however, foreign commerce was very natural, that in every society that had any ter- also the least productive and most unstable sector ritory, it has always, I believe, been in some of the economy. As long as the nation continued degree observed" (1965, p. 360). to rely upon foreign commerce as it had in the It is within the context of this discussion of the past, future economic would rest upon natural progress of the opulence that Smith takes the most unstable of foundations.2 up the historical arguments considered by Hume. Although Smith that economic growth must take place to some degree according to the 2Smith writes, "The capital, however, that is acquired natural progress of opulence, he observes that in to any country by commerce and manufactures, is all a all modern European states the "natural order of very precarious and uncertain possession, till some part things" has become "in many respects, entirely of it has been secured and realised in the cultivation and

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 768 The American Political Science Review Vol. 78

In sum, Smith's discussion of the rise and devel- threatened it both from within and without opment of commercial society out of the feudal (Pocock, 1973, chap. 4; Winch, 1978, chap. 5). system and his use of Humean historical argu- Like other contemporary civic humanist writers ments about the relationship between commerce such as and John Millar, Smith and liberty lie outside the of civic human- was willing to concede that there were basically ist critics of commercial society. Smith's argu- two methods by which a modern commercial ments culminate not with a rejection of commer- society could protect itself from outside invasion. cial society but with an appeal to throw off the Either it could attempt to instill a martial spirit mercantilist policies that continued to force the into the entire population "by means of a very British economy into an "unnatural and retro- rigorous police," an alternatiave supported by grade order." Similarly, the call for a "system of Ferguson, or it could "render the trade of a natural liberty" is not a rejection of the modern soldier a particular trade, separate and distinct commercial order and the economic growth that from all the others" (1965, pp. 658-660). The first was an essential part of it; it is an affirmation of option, Smith notes, went against the as the commercial order and a call to place future well as the natural inclinations of those who live in economic growth on more secure foundations. a commercial society. No how disciplined such a force might become, it would always be in- The Four-Stage Theory ferior to a well-disciplined and well-trained mili- tary force. His position in regard to the standing- Winch's misinterpretation of the politics of army controversy thus pits him directly against Adam Smith is not limited to his analysis of contemporary civic humanists. Only by means of Smith's account of the rise of commercial socie- a professional standing army could a commercial ties in Book III of The Wealth of Nations. He also society protect itself from the violence and injus- fails to appreciate fully how Smith's analyses of tice of other states. particular problems were shaped by the so-called Winch concedes that Smith's position on the four-stage theory, or how this theory apart standing-army controversy places him at odds Smith's political ideas from the thought of other with contemporary civic humanist thought, but he civic humanist writers. This failure is particularly nevertheless maintains that the setting and the evident in Winch's analysis of Smith's contribu- premises on which he poses the problem leave tion to the standing army controversy (1978, Smith in the civic humanist matrix. In particular, chap. 5). Winch notes that the discussion takes place in the For most modern readers, Smith's inquiry into context of a moral and social analysis of the con- the and expense of Military defense in the sequences of the division of labor in modern different stages of society seems rather inconse- societies and reflects a civic humanist concern quential and parochial. In the context of eigh- over the preconditions for effective citizenship teenth-century England, however, he was address- (1978, p. 113). Unfortunately, at least for Winch's ing one of the most sensitive political issues of the argument, Smith himself does not use the repub- day-the question of the standing army. For civic lican notion of citizenship in his analysis of com- humanist pamphleteers throughout the eighteenth mercial society. Indeed, it will be argued below century, the of the standing army was that such a , as well as the accompanying perceived to be a constant threat to civil liberty; it civic humanist notions of virtue and corruption, reflected the corruption introduced into the body are foreign to his understanding of the modern politic by commerce. Only by maintaining a commercial order. Moreover, his discussion of the watchful citizen militia, they argued, was it pos- social and moral consequences of the division of sible to secure the nation from those forces that labor is actually part of a larger argument, the so- called four-stage theory, that places his analysis of the standing-army controversy firmly outside the civic humanist . improvement of its lands. A merchant, it has been said Smith's four-stage theory originates with his very properly, is not necessarily the citizen of any par- contention in both the unpublished Lectures on ticular country. It is in a great measure indifferent to , Police, Revenue and Arms and Book V of him from what place he carries on his trade; and a very The Wealth of Nations that there are four distinct trifling disgust will make him remove his capital, and stages to human society: , pasturage, together with it all the industry which it supports, from farming, and commerce. In categorizing each one country to another. No part of it can be said to belong to any particular country, till it has been spread stage of by the mode of subsistence as it were over the face of that country, either in build- that predominates in it, Smith is not trying to ings, or in the lasting improvement of lands" (1965, p. make a Marxian-type argument that these are the 395). For a discussion of Smith's capital theory, see actual stages of western European historical Bowley (1975) and Hollander (1973). development. Instead, he is trying to formulate a

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1984 Liberalism, Civic Humanism and Adam Smith 769 developmental perspective for understanding how own labor, much as he would during times of and why different stages of economic develop- . As a result, a hunter society "is at no sort ment give rise to different sorts of political of expence either to prepare him for the field, or arrangements and what the proper role of political to maintain him while he is in it" (1965, p. 653). institutions should be in the modern commercial The military situation in more advanced countries order (Hopfl, 1978; Skinner, 1967, 1975). differs considerably from that found in the more Significantly, this general line of argument primitive hunting societies. Shepherd societies bears little resemblance to the cyclical notions of have no fixed place of habitation, and thus, and economic change found in seventeenth- unlike hunter societies, are not completely limited and eighteenth-century civic humanist thought.3 by the bounty of nature. Although an army of On the contrary, it represents an of the hunters might be limited to 200 or 300 men natural histories of economic improvement and because of their precarious mode of subsistence, societal development found in the work of Locke, an army of shepherds could potentially number in Mandeville, and Hume. Much like the natural his- the thousands. A nation of shepherds thus is a of these earlier liberal writers, Smith's four- much more formidable military opponent than a stage theory is used to explain why political in- nation of hunters (1965, pp. 653-654). stitutions in a commercial society were necessarily The military situation found in more advanced different from those in earlier stages of society, farming societies is different still. In a farming and what the proper functions of these institu- society having little foreign commerce and no tions were, given the social, political; and manufacture, every man remains a warrior or economic problems brought on by economic easily becomes one. The hardiness of ordinary life development.4 in a farming society prepares individuals physical- The way in which this liberal four-stage theory ly and mentally for the rigors of war. As long as shapes Smith's perception of the standing-army military expeditions begin after seed-time and end controversy is delineated at the beginning of Book before harvest, an individual is able to participate V of The Wealth of Nations, where he considers in military affairs with little or no cost to himself. the duties that remain for a sovereign under the As in hunting and shepherd societies, the expense system of natural liberty. "The first of the of war falls on the warriors themselves, not upon sovereign," writes Smith, "that of protecting the the sovereign (1965, p. 655). In terms of Smith's society from the violence and invasion of other in- four-stage theory, the age of the husbandmen is dependent societies, can be performed only by effectively the age of the civic humanist citizen means of a military force. But the expense both of militia. preparing this military force in time of peace, and Three factors intervene in modern commercial of employing it in time of war, is very different in societies to undermine the viability of citizen the different stages of society, in the different militias. First, the progress of manufactures periods of improvement" (1965, p. 653). makes it all but impossible for an individual who According to Smith, in a nation of hunters, goes to war to maintain himself at his own ex- every man is a warrior as well as a hunter. When a pense. Whereas in an earlier stage of society a hunter goes to war, he maintains himself by his man could take to the field without seriously dis- turbing his source of , in a commercial age a worker who is compelled to quit his place of work also loses his sole source of income. Similar- 'By noting that two important republican writers of ly, farmers have little extra time for warfare, given the day, Adam Ferguson and John Millar, made argu- ments that paralleled those developed by Smith in his the improvements that the progress of manufac- four-stage theory, Winch appears to argue that Smith tures introduces into the countryside. As a result, therefore employs a civic humanist line of argument in "Military exercises come to be as much neglected his political thought. However, quite the contrary was by the inhabitants of the country as by those in the case. By grounding some of their arguments in a the town, and the great body of the people four-stage theory argument, both Ferguson and Millar becomes altogether unwarlike" (1965, p. 659). were introducing tensions into their own thought that Second, improvements in the art of war make it could not be easily reconciled with their republican one of the most intricate and complicated arts in a values. commercial society. In order to master this art it 41t is important to recognize that the four-stage theory becomes necessary for the citizen to spend an in- is not purely a product of the liberal tradition. The creasing amount of time in military exercises. earliest modern versions of a stage-theory argument are Third, the wealth that follows from the economic found more frequently in continental rather than British writers. Moreover, Ronald Meek has argued that the improvements found in commercial societies pro- four-stage theory is actually a pre-Marxist rather than a vokes the invasion of all their neighbors who liberal theory. (See Cumming, 1969; Hopfl, 1978; desire their wealth. "An industrious, and upon Meek, 1967, 1977; Skinner, 1967, 1975.) that account a wealthy nation," Smith thus con-

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 770 The American Political Science Review Vol. 78 cludes, "is of all nations the most likely to be divided into a number of different orders, each attacked; and unless the takes some new with its own particular privileges, powers, and im- measures for the public defence, the natural munities. The of a particular state is habits of the people render them altogether in- determined by the orders found in a society and capable of defending themselves" (1965, p. 659). the of powers, privileges, and im- By considering the question of the standing munities found among them (1976, pp. 376-377). army in terms of the four-stage theory, Smith thus Every individual is naturally, that is psych- was able to account for the fact that at a certain logically, more attached to one's own particular age in societal development citizen militias could order than to any other and seeks to expand and protect the nation from external threats. In addi- defend that order's privileges and immunities tion, it enabled him to explain why in a commer- from the encroachments of other orders. This cial society such an option was no longer viable. partiality is not necessarily bad, because it pro- In Smith's mind, a standing army had to be main- vides an important psychological check upon tained by a commercial society if it were to "be undesirable social changes. As Smith notes, "It perpetuated, or even preserved for any consider- tends to preserve whatever is the established able time" (1965, p. 667). Far from revealing civic balance among the different orders and societies humanist leanings, the four-stage theory demon- into which the state is divided; and while it some- strates how far out of touch with the problems of times appears to obstruct some alterations of a modern commercial society Smith views civic government which may be fashionable and pop- humanist thought to be. ular at the time, it contributes in reality to the stability and permanency of the whole system" Corruption in Commercial Society (1976, p. 377). Along a similar line of argument, Smith main- Two questions remain to be considered: What tains that the ties that ultimately bind these dif- notions of corruption and public-mindedness ferent orders together into a common political does one find in Smith's work? How do these community, like those that tie individuals to their notions differ from those found in the civic own order in society, are also derived from the humanist tradition? It is beyond the scope of this moral sentiments. Indeed, Smith maintains that article to provide a comprehensive examination of the distinction of ranks and the order of society the moral theory found in A Theory of Moral are ultimately founded upon the disposition of Sentiments (1976) or the way in which this moral mankind to go along with the passions of the rich theory complements and reinforces the economic and the powerful (1976, pp. 114-116). As Smith arguments found in The Wealth of Nations. explains, These issues have been dealt with at great length in other works on Smith (see Campbell, 1971; Crop- That kings are the servants of the people, to be sey, 1957; Lindgren, 1973; Morrow, 1969). How- obeyed, resisted, deposed, or punished, as the ever, we can briefly explain why Smith's notions public conveniency may require, is the doctrine of and philosophy; but it is not the doc- of corruption and public-mindedness stand out- trine of nature. Nature would teach us to submit side a civic humanist vision of the commercial to them for their own sake, to tremble and bow order and what these show about a Smithian down before their exalted station, to regard their understanding of the problems confronting a smile as a reward sufficient to compensate any modern commercial society. services, and to dread their displeasure, though One of the most striking differences between no other evil were to follow from it, as the sever- Smith's understanding of corruption and public- est of all mortifications. (1976, p. 116) mindedness and that of contemporary civic humanist writers can be seen in the distinct under- The political community found in a commercial lying concerns. As noted earlier, civic humanists society thus does not emerge out of the activities were concerned with the economic preconditions of economically independent citizens. It arises out for independent as a citizen. Landed prop- of the natural disposition in individuals to defer to erty was perceived to be the foundation upon others in positions of authority. which an individual's civic personality was based A tone of and anguish underlies because it enabled an individual to act autono- Smith's discussion of the psychological phenom- mously and virtuously in public affairs. Signifi- ena found in all human societies that stands in cantly, Smith's discussion does not center around contrast to the moderately upbeat and - an analysis of the economic preconditions to confident tone found in civic humanism. Smith's effective citizenship, but around a discussion of ideas reflect a world view that appears to be un- the psychological ties that bind men together in all sure of itself and of its future. His concern is not societies. to create better citizens who can participate in the According to Smith, every independent state is political life of the community, nor is it to reform

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1984 Liberalism, Civic Humanism and Adam Smith 771

the existing power structure. It is to maintain themselves might become corrupted and that the those conditions most highly conducive to the psychological bonds that tie the various orders in continuance of existing authority . The a society together might be torn asunder. Conse- world of Adam Smith is not the civic humanist quently, his solution to the problem of the divi- world analyzed by Pocock nor is it the world of sion of labor, public , is not aimed at nineteenth- and twentieth-century mass democ- creating independent citizens in the republican racy. It is the troubled world of early liberalism of the term; rather it is concerned with pre- sketched out by Wolin in Politics and Vision venting "the almost entire corruption and de- (1960, chap. 9). Nothing makes this more evident generacy of the great body of the people" (1965, than Smith's conceptualization of the problems p. 734). This concern over the corruption of the introduced into the commercial order by the divi- moral sentiments of the people is shown clearly in sion of labor. a fascinating passage from Book V of The Wealth Smith fully recognizes the devastating impact of Nations. that the division of labor could have upon the work force. A man who spent his whole life per- Though the state was to derive no advantage forming a few simple operations naturally loses from the instruction of the inferior ranks of peo- his ability to exercise his mind "and generally ple, it would still deserve its attention that they should not be altogether uninstructed. The state, becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is for however, derives no inconsiderable advantage a human creature to become." As Smith explains, from their instruction. The more they are in- structed, the less liable they are to the delusions The torpor of his mind renders him, not only of and superstition, which, among incapable of relishing or bearing a part in any ignorant nations, frequently occasion the most rational conversation, but of conceiving any dreadful disorders. An instructed and intelligent generous, noble, or tender sentiment, and conse- people besides, are always more decent and quently of forming any just judgment concerning orderly than an ignorant and stupid one. They many even of the ordinary duties of private life. feel themselves, each individually more respect- Of the great and extensive interest of his country able, and more likely to obtain the respect of he is altogether incapable of judging; . . . The their lawful superiors. . . They are more dis- uniformity of his stationary life . . . corrupts posed to examine, and more capable of seeing even the activity of his body, and renders him in- through the interested complaints of faction and capable of exerting his strength with vigour and sedition, and they are, upon that account, less perseverance, in any other employment than apt to be misled into any wanton or unnecessary that to which he has been bred. His dexterity at to the measures of government. In his own particular trade seems, in this manner, to free countries, where the safety of government be acquired at the expense of his , depends very much upon the favorable judgment social, and martial virtues. But in every im- which the people may form of its conduct, it proved and civilized society this is the state into must surely be of the highest importance that which the labouring poor, that is, the great body they should not be disposed to judge rashly or of the people, must necessarily fall, unless capriciously concerning it. (1965, p. 740) government takes some pains to prevent it." (1965, pp. 734-735) In short, the notion of corruption found in In Winch's mind, this discussion of the mental Smith's discussion is qualitatively different from mutilation of the work force brought on by the that found in the civic humanist tradition. Rather division of labor is further evidence of the human- than emerging out of a concern over the economic istic side to Smith's politics. This reading simply preconditions for the independent action on the fails to understand the concerns lying behind the part of the citizen, or centering around the discussion. Smith's concern is not with making property-personality- traced workers into responsible citizens in the republican out by Pocock, Smith's notion of corruption sense of the term. His four-stage theory had emerges out of his concern for the psychological shown how foreign to a modern commercial socie- attachments which tie men in different social ty such a notion of citizenship was. In a commer- orders together into a common political com- cial society, workers could not be expected to per- munity and make authority relations possible. form the military duties assumed by republican- minded citizens in farming societies (see Smith, 1965, pp. 658-659). Moreover, as the above quotation shows, Smith simply does not believe that a modern worker is capable of participating Public-mindedness rationally in the political world. His concern is that the division of labor might dehumanize the Like his analysis of corruption in a commercial worker to such a degree that the moral sentiments society, Smith's discussion of the problem of get-

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 772 The American Political Science Review Vol. 78

ting people to act in the public interest exists far was to be read solely by academic scribes. He was outside the civic humanist world view. For the addressing a particular order-the landlords in civic humanist, this problem was solved by creat- -with a particular political objective ing "virtuous men" who had the economic inde- in mind: to teach them what their economic inter- pendence to be able to transcend their private in- ests were in a commercial society. Smith recog- terests and to look upon the good of the com- nizes that of the three great orders in a commer- munity as a whole. Such a solution was unavail- cial society, the landlords, the laborers, and the able to Smith. Smith recognizes that in a commer- mercantile-manufacturers, only the latter had cial society, individuals stood in constant need of acquired a true understanding of what their the cooperation and assistance of others. One specific interests were in matters of economic could not reasonably expect to gain this through policy. Laborers had neither the time nor the either friendship or benevolence. Commercial necessary education or habits to think about society was simply too large and diverse for such public affairs in any systematic manner. The land- bonds of affection to tie individuals together for lords, on the other hand, often suffered from an any period of time. Indeed, Smith notes that an indolence "which is the natural effect of the ease individual would be much more likely to gain the and security of their situation" and which left assistance of others by appealing to self-interest. them "not only ignorant but incapable of that "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, application of mind which is necessary in order to the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our din- foresee and understand the consequences of any ner, but from their regard to their own interest. public " (1965, pp. 248-259). We address ourselves, not to their humanity but The consequences of this state of affairs were to their self-love, and never talk to them of our devastating. By a superior of their own own necessities but of their advantages" (1965, interest, the mercantile-manufacturer order had p. 14).5 been able to impose its will upon the generosity of For Smith, the problem of public-mindedness the "country gentleman" in parliament by con- had to be dealt with in terms of the self-interest of vincing him that their interest, and not his or the individuals, not in spite of it. His concern was not laborers, was the interest of the public. As Smith to discuss how political actors could transcend warns, "The interests of the dealers, however, in their self-interest, but how this self-interest ulti- any particular branch of trade or manufactures, is mately was tied to the public interest. When does always in some respects different from, and even the self-interest of an individual coincide with the opposite to, that of the public" (1965, p. 250). public interest? When does it not? What factors The economic theory developed in Book I of might motivate political actors to seek out the The Wealth of Nations is meant to provide the public interest while acting in their own interest? landlord order with an understanding of why the These are the questions that propel his thought interest of the mercantile-manufacturer order dif- . His answers do not lie outside his eco- fered from the general interest of society and why nomic theory, but are firmly embedded in it. the interest of the landlord order was "strictly and All too often, the underlying political objective inseparably" connected with it. In providing the of Smith's economic theory in The Wealth of members of the landlord order with an under- Nations is forgotten by commentators. Smith was standing of their own class-interest in economic not writing an abstract on economics that affairs, Smith also was trying to teach them how to act in the long-run interest of the community as a whole. As Smith concludes at the end of Book I, "When the public deliberates concerning any 'Smith does note in A Theory of Moral Sentiments, regulation of commerce or police, the proprietors "The wise and virtuous man is at all times willing that his own private interest should be sacrificed to the of land never can mislead it, with a view to pro- public interest of his own particular order or society. He mote the interest of their own particular order; at is at all times willing, too, that the interest of this order least, if they have any tolerable knowledge of that or society should be sacrificed to the greater interest of interest" (1965, p. 249). For Smith, economic the state or of which it is only a subordinate theory thus held the key to getting people to act in part" (1976, p. 384). The notion of virtue discussed the public interest. By teaching them what their here, however, is a private-personal virtue, not a public own interest was in economic matters, those coun- one. In neither The Wealth of Nations nor in A Theory try gentlemen could also be pushed to act in the of Moral Sentiments does he argue that the solution to public interest. the problem of public-mindedness in a commercial society lies primarily in the creation of virtuous men. Interestingly, Smith does not believe that eco- Kramnick argues that a new liberal notion of virtue nomic theory rightly understood need appeal sole- emerged in eighteenth-century political thought that was ly to policymakers' naked self-interest. It could tied into the idea of the self-centered individual who also appeal to their love of system and their regard participated in the (1982, pp. 663-664). for the of order, of art, and of con-

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1984 Liberalism, Civic Humanism and Adam Smith 773 trivance; that is, to their moral sentiments. Smith Conclusion writes, I have examined critically Donald Winch's civic humanist reading of Adam Smith's politics. My The of police, the extension of trade and manufactures, are noble and magnificent ongoing concern has been to explain why Smith's objects. The contemplation of them pleases us, political thought should not be read apart from and we are interested in whatever can tend to his economic thought or the larger conceptual advance them. They make part of the great framework within which his perception of com- system of government, and the wheels of the mercial society operates. I do not mean to imply political machine seem to move with more har- that conventional treatments of Smith's political mony and ease by means of them. We take plea- thought fully appreciate the political dimension to sure in beholding the perfection of so beautiful Smith's thought. Winch is quite correct when he and so grand a system, and we are uneasy till we argues that far too little attention is paid to remove any obstruction that can in the least dis- turb or encumber the regularity of its . Smith's concern over the problems of corruption (1976, p. 305) and public-mindedness in the modern commercial order. Unfortunately, Winch fails to see how closely connected to Smith's economic theory If a policymaker correctly understands the proper his understanding of these problems are. forces that move a modern commercial economy For Smith, economic theory is an important mode forward, he will be "animated to some degree of of political discourse that is integrally related to public spirit" and will feel some desire to remove his political thought and his perception of the those obstructions that prevent "so beautiful and problems confronting the modern commercial so orderly a machine" from working properly. As order. Our failure to understand Smith as a politi- Smith explains, cal thinker does not reside simply in our failure to appreciate the "political" dimensions to his thought, but in our failure to understand how Nothing tends so much to promote public spirit economic discourse itself shaped his perception of as the study of politics,-of the several systems the modern commercial order.6 of civil government, their advantages and dis- advantages,-of the of our own country, its situation, and interest with regard to foreign nations, its commerce, its defense, the References disadvantages it labours under, the dangers to which it may be exposed, how to remove the one Bailyn, B. The ideological origins of the American and how to guard against the other. Upon this . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University account political disquisitions, if just, and rea- Press, 1967. sonable, and practicable, are of all the works of Bowley, M. Studies in the history of economic theory , the most useful. Even the weakest before 1870. London: Macmillan, 1973. and the worst of them are not altogether without Campbell, T. D. Adam Smith's science of morals. their . They serve at least to animate the London: George, Allen and Unwin, 1971. public passions of men, and rouse them to seek Cropsey, J. Polity and economy. The Hague: Nijhoff, out the means of promoting the happiness of the 1957. society. (1976, p. 307) Cumming, R. D. and history: A study of the development of liberal political thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969. In sum, for Smith the problem of instilling a Forbes, D. Hume's philosophical politics. Cambridge: concern over the public interest into the political Cambridge University Press, 1975. order was not one that involved maintaining the Harphim, E. J. Natural and early liberal economic economic preconditions for the independent thought: A reconsideration of Locke's theories of action of an autonomous citizen. It was the estab- value. Quarterly, in press. lishment of the correct psychological disposition Hirschman, A. 0. The passions and the interests. in the of policymakers to promote policies Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977. that served the public interest. The notion of public-mindedness found in Smith's work, like "Political theorists' general failure to appreciate the that of corruption, thus is quite different from political implications of liberal economic thought is not that found in civic humanism. It is a liberal limited to the case of Adam Smith. For example, the public-mindedness that accepts and, at times, actual economic writings of have all but champions, the self-interest that lies at the heart been ignored by political theorists. For a discussion of of modern commercial society. It is a liberal the relationship between Lockean political and eco- public-mindedness that is integrally related to nomic thought see Harpham (in press) and Vaughn liberal economic theory. (1980).

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 774 The American Political Science Review Vol. 78

Hollander, S. The economics of Adam Smith. Toronto: Atheneum, 1973. University of Toronto Press, 1973. Robbins, C. The eighteenth century commonwealth- Hpfl, H. M. From savage to Scotsman: Conjectural man: Studies in the transmission, development and history in the . Journal of circumstances of English liberal thought from the British Studies, 1978, 17, 19-40. restoration of Charles II until the war with the thir- Kramnick, I. Bolingbroke and his circle: The politics of teen colonies. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univer- nostalgia in the age of Walpole. Cambridge, Mass.: sity Press, 1959. Harvard University Press, 1968. Sabine, G. A history of political theory (3rd ed.). New Kramnick, I. Republican revisionism revisited. Ameri- York: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1961. can Historical Review, 1982, 87, 629-664. Skinner, A. Adam Smith: An economic interpretation Lindgren, J. R. The of Adam Smith. of history. Essays on Adam Smith. A. Smith & T. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1973. Wilson (Eds.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975. Macpherson, C. B. The political theory possessive Skinner, A. Natural history in the age of Adam Smith. . London: , Political Studies, 1967, 15, 32-48. 1962. Smith, A. An inquiry into the nature and the causes of Meek, R. Economics and . London: Chapman the wealth of nations. (E. Cannan & M. Lerner, and Hull, 1967. Eds.). New York: Modern Library, 1965. Meek, R. Smith, Marx, after: Ten essays on the devel- Smith, A. Lectures on police, justice, revenue, and opment of economic thought. London: Chapman arms. (E. Cannan, Ed.). New York: Kelley and Mill- and Hull, 1977. man, 1956. Morrow, G. R. The ethical and economic theories of Smith, A. A theory of moral sentiments. Indianapolis: Adam Smith. New York: A. W. Kelley, 1969. Liberty , 1976. Pocock, J. G. A. Early modern -the Vaughn, K. I. John Locke: and social scien- Augustan perception. Feudalism, capitalism and tist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980. beyond. E. Kamenka & R. S. Neale (Eds.). Can- Winch, D. Adam Smith's politics: An essay in historio- berra: Australian National University Press, 1975. graphic revision. Cambridge: Cambridge University (a) Press, 1978. Pocock, J. G. A. The Machiavellian moment: Floren- Wolin, S. Politics and vision: Continuity and innova- tine political thought and the Atlantic republican tion in western political thought. Boston: Little, tradition. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Brown, 1960. Press, 1975. (b) Wood, G. The creation of the American . Pocock, J. G. A. Politics, language and time: Essays New York: W. W. Norton, 1972. on political thought and history. New York:

This content downloaded from 129.110.242.69 on Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:52:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms