Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations - The Natural Order is Driven by Man’s Self-interest

Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations - The Natural Order is Driven by Man’s Self-interest

Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations argues for a system of political economy that separates economy – the creation and distribution of wealth – from governmental interference. In Smith’s view, the economy of a nation grows as a direct consequence of private business ventures in the interest of each individual owner. Regulation by the government hurts the economy, and the progress of society is derived from the flow of the market. Things should be left in their natural states, thus maintaining a “natural order” of society. The basis of Smith’s thesis is that this natural order is driven by Man’s self-interest.

Smith presents the first and arguably most important aspect of social organization based upon self-interest as the division of labor. He asserts that the division of labor occurs naturally in society as “the consequence of a certain propensity in human nature … the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another” (21). This propensity arises from man’s “almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren,” (21) an idea illustrated by the fact that in both Smith’s and modern times, the number of truly self-sufficient individuals are few. This “trucking disposition gives occasion to the division of labor,” and Smith makes the example of a hunter who, in trading arrows with others, can acquire whatever he needs and will be encouraged to “apply himself to a particular occupation, and to cultivate and bring to perfection whatever talent … he may possess for that … business” (23). At this point, Smith is making an assumption: that men will always choose to do something that will provide them with more over some...

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...der a man who donates to a charity. On the one hand, economically he gains nothing from this action, and this action does not contribute to his private opulence, defined by Smith as “originally derived … [from] the uniform, constant and uninterrupted effort of every man to better his condition” (205). On the other hand, a more cynical individual might say that the giver gains some kind of metaphysical or subjective return from this action that contributes to his self-interest. Smith seems to have little faith in the natural goodness of Man, writing “it is in vain for [one man] to expect [help] from [other men’s] benevolence only” (22). This pessimistic viewpoint Smith holds might explain what leads him to see self-interest as the primary factor in the actions of humanity.

Bibliography:

Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 1991 (1776)