BrewerDP. Pdf

 

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stage

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). The relation between the agricultural and commercial stages is different in that 

commerce does not  add a new source of subsistence though it does require that those who 

produce  food  produce a surplus beyo nd  their own  needs to support  those  who work in 

manufacturing or other sectors. Commerce, therefore, grows up within an agricultural society 

without a sharp division between the two stages. 

Commercial  society  evolved twice, in Smith’s story.

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 First came the development of ancient 

society from the Greek cities to the rise and fall of the Roman empire. The barbarian 

invasions of Europe brought down the western Roman empire, effectively destroyed towns 

and trade, and  depopulated the countryside. The  process of development had to start over 

again,  in a second sequence of events focused on western Europe, leading to feudalism and 

ultimately to the commercial societies of Smith's own time. Smith's account is not, of course, 

a full narrative history. The lectures were on jurisprudence, so they naturally focused on the 

development of governmental institutions and legal systems. The post-classical development 

of western Europe is also described in some detail in the Wealth of Nations. 

In both classical and post-classical cases the driving force is a process of economic 

development. In the Lectures Smith most often used the phrase ‘improvement of the arts’ as a 

label for this process, with variations such as ‘progress of the arts and commerce’, the 

introduction and improvement of ‘arts and luxury’, and so on, linked to growing opulence, a 

growing manufacturing sector, more extensive commerce, and so on. To anyone familiar with 

the  Wealth of Nations, it is natural to identify this process with the development of the 

division of labour, but Smith rarely used that phrase in his Lectures in the context of the four 

stages theory. The probable explanation is simple – in both sets of lectures, the four stages are 

introduced early  on  as a framework for discussions of forms of government and law, while 

the division of labour is discussed much later on. Smith could not use the phrase ‘division of 

labour’ when he had not explained its significance

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. In LJ(B) the treatment of the division of 

labour is followed by a discussion of the slow progress of opulence (prefiguring a similar 

discussion in the Wealth of Nations), link ing the historical story to the division of labour. 

(The corresponding section of  LJ(A) is missing.)  Modern  readers can  reasonably  translate 

‘improvement of the arts’ as a growing division of labour.  

For Smith, the  improvement of the arts is essentially automatic,  hence  requiring little or no 

further explanation,  given suitable geographical and social/political conditions (improvable 

                                                 

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 In a fragment of unknown date, Smith remarked that:  ‘By means of agriculture the same quantity of ground 

not only produces corn but is made capable of supporting a much greater number of cattle than before’ (printed 

in LJ p. 584). 

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 Haakonssen writes of ‘the three great attempts by mankind to live in commercial societies, in Greece, in 

Rome, and in modern Europe’ (1981 178), but Greece and Rome seem to me to be parts of a single story. 

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 With one exception, perhaps a slip (LJ(B) 37). 

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soil, access to markets, security, and so on). The presence or absence of the conditions for, or 

obstacles to, development is an important theme.  

There are a number of other components of Smith's argument which he drew on repeatedly in 

different cases or stages of development. One such element is the link between wealth (or 

command over resources), the use of wealth, and political power (Fiori and Pesciarelli 1999). 

Wealth can be used to support dependents who are a source of power, either as a private army 

or as supporters  in an assembly. Once manufacturing develops, however, luxury spending is 

an alternative, sacrificing power for personal enjoyment. The pattern of inequality matters: if 

one person (or family or group) is much richer than the rest, then they can match others in 

luxury spending while still maintaining their political power – the case of a king, or emperor. 

Otherwise, the tendency is towards oligarchy (aristocracy) or democracy. Smith used this line 

of argument to explain forms of government in pastoral societies and Greek cities and also to 

explain the rise and decline of feudalism in Europe. 

The improvement of the arts (division of labour) has important military effects. In a simple 

agricultural society, there are periods in the year when farmers can leave their land to fight 

for their city or overlord. In a manufacturing and trading society they cannot leave their 

business so easily, shifting the balance between a citizen army (or militia) and a standing 

army, with important effects on the form of government and the ability to resist external 

enemies.  

Slavery is relevant here: in a society in which most of the work s done by slaves, citizens are 

relatively free to participate in the political life of the community or to fight. Slavery was, of 

course, important in classical  times, but not in Smith's own time in Europe (as opposed to 

European colonies). Slavery was also important for its harmful effects on productivity and on 

invention. 

The four stages theory, then, provided a general framework within which Smith deployed a 

number of theoretical elements (in a rather informal way) to explain the trajectory of classical 

civilization and the contrasting development of post-classical Europe. The striking 

differences between the two have to be explained by different initial conditions and (perhaps) 

differences in the geographical environment between the Mediterranean and northern Europe. 

Classical antiquity 

In Smith’s account, the  agricultural stage in classical antiquity started with pastoralists 

moving in to Greece (and other areas around the Mediterranean), where 'all the necessary 

circumstances  for the improvement of the arts concurred' (LJ(A) iv.62). As agriculture, 

manufactures, and trade developed, their wealth started to attract raiders, so the inhabitants of 

each territory established a fortified city to defend themselves. The geography is important 

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