Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations, Bk. 2, Ch.III,Of Accumulation of Capital, or of productive and unproductive labour

Abstract or Introduction

Adam Smith was a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and tied to the French and
American Enlightenments which were crucial chapters in the story of modernity. Smith's
standing and influence were established early on. The publication of "The Theory of
Moral Sentiments" in 1759 quickly made him famous. Smith's only other published book,
"An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" (published in 1776),
was similarly received and won the careful scrutiny of Bentham, Hegel, and Marx,
among the others. "The Wealth of Nations" clearly influenced thinkers in the American
Founding and has served as a touchstone in scholarly discussions about the workings and
protection of liberal economic arrangements.
"The Wealth of Nations" has among its chief aims the just and effective pursuit of wealth.
Smith's book is undoubtedly the most famous and enduring Enlightenment contribution
on this subject. The Enlightenment is closely tied to the liberation of the desire for
wealth, and so to commerce and the free market which are, according to Smith, the most
effective means to the satisfaction of that desire.
This desire to live better can be found earlier in Hobbes' works. Charles L.Griswold, Jr.1
in his book "Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment" gives some quotations from
Hobbes' Leviathan and emphasises that a person is nothing without what Hobbes calls
"perpetual tranquillity of mind". In other words, life is ceaselessly driven by desire,
anxiety, and fear; it is eternally filled with disturbance and disquiet. Without any
disturbances and misfortunes we could not possess real "felicity of mind". [...]
1 Charles L.Griswold, JR., Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment, Cambridge University Press,
1999, p. 219