Burke, Commerce, and the Question of Virtue a DISSERTATION S
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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA The Sphinx of Political Economy: Burke, Commerce, and the Question of Virtue A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the Department of Politics School of Arts and Sciences Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy © Copyright All Rights Reserved By Gregory Martin Collins Washington, D.C. 2017 The Sphinx of Political Economy: Burke, Commerce, and the Question of Virtue Gregory Martin Collins, Ph.D. Director: David Walsh, Ph.D. Did Edmund Burke actually embrace the abstract rationalism of the French Revolution? Burke is known for being the foremost critic of the Revolution, and for articulating a conservative political philosophy in opposition to it that blended a defense of the collected wisdom of the past with an ethic of prudential amelioration. Yet he firmly defended the Enlightenment’s rationalist principles of market liberalism in his primary economic tract, Thoughts and Details on Scarcity . In this light, scholars have accused Burke of employing in his economic theory the same language of metaphysical abstractionism that he condemned Jacobins for spreading during the Revolution. The purpose of this dissertation, therefore, is to clarify the principles of Burke’s philosophy of political economy and examine how they relate to his political philosophy. It will further explore whether Burke’s economic theory locates a tension in mass commercial societies that anticipates modern critiques of market economies. The seeming contradiction arising from Burke’s defense of chivalric virtue in Reflections on the Revolution in France and his passionate endorsement of market economies in Thoughts and Details has been called the “Burke-Smith” problem, or what this dissertation describes as a sphinx. In Burke’s judgment, a mix of traditional customs, common law, and social and religious institutions furnished the stability necessary to sustain constitutional government. Yet Burke advocated the release of economic decision-making from the hand of the state. He championed vibrant free market commercial activities for, among various reasons, promoting public prosperity, circulating scarce resources in an efficient manner, and cultivating virtue. How was Burke able to preserve his own philosophical commitment to tradition while, at the same time, endorsing Adam Smith’s classical liberal economic thought? This dissertation argues that Burke’s reflections on political economy retain a consistency with his political philosophy. Burke’s endorsement of markets affirms, not undermines, his aversion to abstract reason. This skepticism of rationality in political affairs informed his awareness of the complexity of private economic activity. And Burke’s belief in the merit of gradual reform alerted him to the dangers of state intrusion into organically developing contractual arrangements. In addition, Burke did not apprehend an inherent tension between ethics and commerce that could not be reconciled. In his judgment, a careful integration of market dynamism and the moderating presences of traditional virtue and landed property was essential for commercial prosperity. Burke believed that markets generated great advantages but also contained inherent limits, and that the failure to recognize both realities posed a threat to civilizational order. This dissertation by Gregory Martin Collins fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in Politics approved by David Walsh, Ph.D., as Director, and by Dennis J. Coyle, Ph.D., and Stephen F. Schneck, Ph.D., as Readers. __________________________________ David Walsh, Ph.D., Director __________________________________ Dennis Coyle, Ph.D., Reader __________________________________ Stephen F. Schneck, PhD., Reader ii To Rochelle iii Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgments ........................................................................................ viii 1: The Sphinx of Edmund Burke’s Political Economy .................................... 1 a. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 b. The Broader Philosophical Implications ....................................................................... 4 c. Secondary Interpretations of Burke ................................................................................ 6 d. Secondary Interpretations of Burke’s Political Economy ...................................... 12 2: The Philosophical and Historical Background on the Question of Political Economy ....................................................................................................... 20 a. The Problem Between Political Philosophy and Political Economy ................ 20 b. Burke’s Historical Milieu I: Brief Biography ............................................................... 28 c. Burke’s Historical Milieu II: Agriculture, Landed Property, and the Gentry .. 35 d. Burke’s Historical Milieu III: Commercial Society and Trade ............................... 42 3: Burke on Market Economies I .................................................................. 48 a. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 48 b. Historical Background and Context ....................................................................... 56 c. The Role of Government in Market Economies ................................................. 66 d. The Laws of Supply and Demand, Wages, and Price Theory ............................ 73 e. Labor, the Laboring Poor, and the Duty of the Rich .......................................... 90 f. Equality .................................................................................................................... 110 g. Conclusion: Burke and Prudence in Thoughts and Details ................................... 115 4: Burke on Market Economies II ............................................................... 123 a. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 123 b. Voluntary Contracts and Market Transactions .................................................. 127 c. Incentive, Reciprocity, and Commercial Virtues................................................ 137 d. Middlemen ............................................................................................................... 142 e. Laissez Faire and the Role of State Regulation .................................................. 163 f. Rationalism in Thoughts and Details ........................................................................ 173 g. Rationalism and the Hayek Connection .............................................................. 179 h. Burke and Adam Smith .......................................................................................... 185 i. Conclusion: The Importance of Thoughts and Details in Burke’s Thought ...... 192 5. Free Trade, the Question of Zero-Sum Economics, and Burke as a Legislator .................................................................................................... 201 a. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 201 b. Free Trade, Protectionism, and the British Empire .......................................... 203 c. The Free Port Act of 1766 .................................................................................... 212 d. The 1772 Repeal of Statutes Banning Forestalling, Regrating, and iv Engrossing ............................................................................................................... 225 e. The Irish Trade Bills ............................................................................................... 232 f. Irish Trade, Nature, Principle, and Prudence ..................................................... 256 g. The American War, the Navigation Acts, and Pitt’s Commercial Propositions ............................................................................................................. 272 h. Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 280 6: Burke on Property ................................................................................... 286 a. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 286 b. The Origin of Property Rights: The Affair of Nullum Tempus .......................... 290 c. Burke, Ireland, and the Popery Laws I: Address and Petition of the Irish Catholics ..................................................................................................................... 312 d. Burke, Ireland, and the Popery Laws II: Tracts Relating to Popery Laws ............ 320 e. The Irish Absentee Tax ......................................................................................... 341 f. Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 352 7: Burke’s Idea of Political Economy in the Context of the French Revolution ................................................................................................... 369 a. Introduction ............................................................................................................