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SIR JAMES STEUART ON THE ORIGINS OF COMMERCIAL NATIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2018

José M. Menudo
José M. Menudo*
Affiliation:
Universidad Pablo de Olavide.
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Abstract

This paper examines James Steuart’s explanation of the emergence of commercial nations. Unlike other Scottish thinkers of the time, Steuart argues that artifice is necessary for the rise of commercial societies. He uses the term “artificial” to refer to a devised process, one that is an alternative to the supposedly natural process arising from innate propensities. The system of trade and commerce is an “artifice” created by merchants to obtain benefits, and established by the sovereign for his ostentation and personal prestige, until it became generalized as a commercial nation. Steuart’s explanation of the emergence of commercial nations accounts for how individuals become dependent on and subordinate to the public market. This paper concludes that Steuart’s Political Œconomy promotes a science of the artificial that seeks to understand the functioning of non-natural mechanisms and to create instruments that the statesman adapts to the needs and objectives of individuals.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 40 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 561 - 578
Copyright
Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2018 

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Footnotes

I would like to thank Paul Dudenhefer and Stephen Meardon for his comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this article. The paper benefitted from inspiring remarks made by three anonymous referees and several colleagues at the Charles Gide Conference (Lyon 2014). Any remaining errors are nevertheless my responsibility. This work was supported by the Regional Government of Andalusia under Grant project SEJ-246 and the Andalusian Studies Centre under Grant project PRY131/11.

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