----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- Dugald Stewart who wrote a short sketch [1793] of Adam Smith’s life and work had interesting things to say about both the points in Tony Brewer's post. He maintained that Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations [WN] to ascertain the general principles of ‘justice and expediency’. Smith was interested in laying out modern policy of states which was to be opposite of ancient states of both Greece and Rome. Dugald wrote: “One principle cause of this difference between the spirit of the ancient and modern policy, may be found in the difference between the sources of national wealth in ancient and modern times. In ages when commerce and manufacture were yet in their infancy, and among states constituted like most of the ancient republics, a sudden influx of riches from abroad was justly dreaded as an evil, alarming to the morals, to the industry, and to the freedom of a people. So different, however is the case at present, that the most wealthy nations are those where the people are the most laborious, and where they enjoy the greatest degree of liberty”. Dugald says that Smith believed that the general diffusion of wealth among the ‘lower orders of men’ gave birth to the spirit of independence in these societies. Even more interestingly, Dugald felt that Smith’s moral philosophy had a connection to his ‘inquiry’ into the wealth of nations. He claimed to "illustrate a connection between his [Smith’s] system of commercial politics and those speculations of his earlier years, in which he aimed more professedly at the advancement of human improvement and happiness. It is this view of political economy that alone can render it interesting to the moralist, and can dignify the calculations of profits and loss in the eye of the philosopher”. Sumitra Shah ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]