Adam Smith
ADAM SMITH AND JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU. Adam Smith(1723-1790) and Jean Jacques Rousseau(1712-1770) each provide their own distinctive social thought. Smith, political economist and moral philosopher, is regarded as the father of modern economics. Rousseau, a Franco-Swiss social and political philosopher, combines enlightenment and semi-romantic themes in his work. Thus Smith's work places emphasis on the relationship between economics and society, whereas, Rousseau focuses his attention on the social inequalities within society. Therefore, Smith and Rousseau, of the Scottish and Continental Enlightenment respectively, provide unique insights on their existing society. Adam Smith is one of the main figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith's main concern was the establishment of the free market, as laid out in his work "The Wealth of Nations"(1776). In the "Wealth of Nations", Smith is very critical of the division of labour. The emphasis falls equally on the economic and social consequences of the division of labour(Smith, 1998:26). Moreover, "What is significant about the contribution of the Scottish Enlightenment to Sociology is the clear awareness that society constituted a process, the product of specific economic, social, an
Society was a category of historical investigation, the result of objective, material causes"(Smith, 1998:26). Smith's defence of the free market was tied to the belief that state interference with the market benefits the rich and hurts the poor(Lecture Notes, 2001:5). These problems did not exist for the 'noble savage', however, the 'civilized man' lives in a society that creates and perpetuates social inequalities amongst its members. Jean Jacques Rousseau's work, in contrast to Smith's, gives attention to the social inequalities within society created by social development. d historical forces that could be identified and analyzed through methods of empirical science. Inequalities, that Rousseau believes, naturally do not exist. More specifically, his work concentrates on the articificial social inequalities. Smith believed that society would benefit from individuals who were self-interested in their own personal economic gains. "Rousseau's contrast of the 'noble savage' with 'civilized man' illustrates this conception; the former exists in a state of nature that provides everything necessary to a free and happy existence, while the latter is enslaved by all sorts of artificial wants and desires"(Smith, 1998:10). Rousseau states that, "society creates more compex needs and therefore a more complex humanity than that found in the state of nature"(Smith, 1998:16). Therefore, the division of labour, in Smith's perspective, conflicts with the ideals of the Scottish Enlightenment thinking of individual progress and development. Rousseau's critical view of society is based upon his theory that the social inequalities existing in society conflict with the laws of nature. Smith clearly argues that the division of labour halted the growth and development of the people.
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