The utopian dimension in the philosophy of social betterment in Adam Smith

Maria Pia Paganelli

doi:10.1590/0103-6351/6250

Abstract

Abstract Adam Smith does not focus on the creation of an ideal world, but on the understanding that societal changes for the better are an unintentional product of commerce. Furthermore, as if to highlight the concreteness of these changes, he sees population growth as the way to measure this betterment of society.

Highlights

Can we make a better society? Should we? How do we know if we have made it better? Adam Smith, in line with some of his contemporaries Eighteenth-century Scottish enlightenment thinkers such as David Hume, John Millar and Adam Ferguson, answers these questions differently from many of his European contemporaries, predecessors, and successors
In the sense of macro-level change for the better, can and does happen, but it is generally the result of a combination of luck and the unintended consequences of human interactions, which can be measured by changes in population growth rates
The French Revolution may be one of the expressions of a faith in the construct of Utopia here and : we create new goods and new technologies; we develop sciences and apply them to everyday life; we rationalize knowledge, making it more fruitful, so we can modify our environment, control and direct the destiny of humankind toward a better world, improving on the imperfections of the existing world and creating a new and better one (Fest 1992)

Summary

Introduction

Can we make a better society? Should we? How do we know if we have made it better? Adam Smith, in line with some of his contemporaries Eighteenth-century Scottish enlightenment thinkers such as David Hume, John Millar and Adam Ferguson, answers these questions differently from many of his European contemporaries, predecessors, and successors. For Smith, social betterment is generally the result of a combination of luck and the unintended consequences of human interactions, which can be measured by changes in the rate of growth of population. In the sense of macro-level change for the better, can and does happen, but it is generally the result of a combination of luck and the unintended consequences of human interactions, which can be measured by changes in population growth rates It is in no way an inevitable step toward development. Improvements are the result of our better knowledge of reality This same knowledge of reality leads us to understand the limits of human abilities and to the view that redesigning a “system,” a whole new society, is the wrong way to approach social change. The idea of social betterment still maintains human agency, even if in a non-deterministic way

Unintended Betterment

Social betterment is measurable

Conclusion