The Rise of Political Economy in the Scottish Enlightenment

Tatsuya Sakamoto, Hideo Tanaka

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2005
• eBook ISBN: 9781134435500
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This collection of essays provides a comprehensive view of the economic thought of the Scottish Enlightenment. Organized as a chronological account of the rise and progress of political economy in eighteenth century Scotland, each chapter discusses the way in which the moral and economic improvement of the Scottish nation became a common concern.

Contributors not only explore the economic discourses of David Hume, James Steuart and Adam Smith but also consider the neglected economic writings of Andrew Fletcher, Robert Wallace, Francis Hutcheson, William Robertson, John Millar and Dugald Stewart. This book addresses the question of how these economic writings interacted with the moral, political and historical arguments of the time and shows how contemporary issues related to the union with England, natural jurisprudence, classical republicanism and manners and civilization all contained an economic dimension. Key chapters include:

• The ancient modern controversy in the Scottish Enlightenment
• The 'Scottish Triangle' in the shaping of political economy: David Hume, Sir James Steuart and Adam Smith
• Civilization and history in Lord Kames and William Robertson
• Adam Smith in Japan

This view of the origin of economic science in Britain is markedly different from traditional accounts and will be of interest to economic, political and social historians.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Editors’ Introduction
• 1. Andrew Fletcher’s Criticism of Commercial Civilization and His Plan for European Federal Union
• 2. Policy Debate On Economic Development In Scotland: The 1720s to the 1730s
• 3. Morality, Polity and Economy In Francis Hutcheson
• 4. Robert Wallace and the Irish and Scottish Enlightenment
• 5. The Ancient–Modern Controversy In the Scottish Enlightenment
• 6. Hume’s Political Economy As a System of Manners
• 7. The ‘Scottish Triangle’ In the Shaping of Political Economy: David Hume, Sir James Steuart, and Adam Smith
• 8. Adam Smith’s Politics of Taxation: Reconsideration of the Image of ‘Civilized Society’ In the Wealth of Nations
• 9. The Main Themes and Structure of Moral Philosophy and the Formation of Political Economy In Adam Smith
• 10. Civilization and History In Lord Kames and William Robertson
• 11. Liberty and Equality: Liberal Democratic Ideas In John Millar
• 12. Dugald Stewart At the Final Stage of the Scottish Enlightenment: Natural Jurisprudence, Political Economy and the Science of Politics
• 13. Adam Smith In Japan