Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:55:24.216Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ADAM SMITH ON JUSTICE AND THE NEEDS OF THE POOR

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2012

JOHN SALTER
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The paper critically discusses some recent contributions to the literature that argue that Smith incorporated the needs of the poor within his account of justice. Three specific claims are examined and rejected: that Smith blurred the traditional distinction between perfect and imperfect rights; that he endorsed the doctrine of the right of necessity; and that he maintained that all people have a natural right to subsistence.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 559 - 575
Copyright
Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cropsey, Joseph. 1957. Polity and Economy: An Interpretation of the Principles of Adam Smith. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cropsey, Joseph. 1975. “Adam Smith and Political Philosophy.” In Skinner, A. S. and Wilson, T., eds., Essays on Adam Smith. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 132–53.Google Scholar
Fleischacker, Samuel. 2004. A Short History of Distributive Justice. Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Griswold, Charles. 1998. Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grotius, Hugo. [1609] 1916. Mare Liberum. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Grotius, Hugo. [1625] 1925. De Jure Belli ac Pacis Libri Tres. Edited by Kelsey, Francis W.. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 1985. The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age. New York: Faber and Faber.Google Scholar
Hont, I., and Ignatieff, M.. 1983. “Needs and Justice in the Wealth of Nations: An Introductory Essay.” In Hont, I. and Ignatieff, M., eds., Wealth and Virtue. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hume, David. [1751] 2006. An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals: A Critical Edition. Edited by Beauchamp, Tom L.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Kramer, M. H., Simmonds, N. E., and Steiner, H., 2000. A Debate over Rights: Philosophical Enquiries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pufendorf, Samuel. [1672] 1934. De Jure Naturae et Dentium libri octo. Edited by Oldfather, W. A. and Oldfather, C. H.. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Raphael, D. D. 2001. Concepts of Justice. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raz, J. 1984. “On the Nature of Rights.” Mind 93 (370): 194–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothschild, Emma. 1992. “Adam Smith and Conservative Economics.” The Economic History Review 45: 74–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothschild, Emma. 2001. Economic Sentiments: Adam Smith, Condorcet, and the Enlightenment. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Salter, John. 1994. “Adam Smith on Justice and Distribution in Commercial Societies.” Scottish Journal of Political Economy 41 (3): 299–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salter, John. 1997. “Justice and Price: Comment on Jeffrey T. Young.” History of Political Economy 29 (4): 675–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salter, John. 1999. “Sympathy with the Poor: Theories of Punishment in Hugo Grotius and Adam Smith.” History of Political Thought. 20 (2): 205–224.Google ScholarPubMed
Salter, John. 2000. “Adam Smith: Justice and Due Shares.” Economics and Philosophy 16 (1): 139–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salter, John. 2005. “Grotius and Pufendorf on the Right of Necessity.” History of Political Thought 26 (2): 284–302.Google Scholar
Smith, Adam. [1762] 1978. Lectures on Jurisprudence [A]. Edited by Meek, R. L, Raphael, D. D, and Stein, P. G.. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Adam. [1766] 1978. Lectures on Jurisprudence [B]. Edited by Meek, R. L, Raphael, D. D, and Stein, P. G.. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Adam. [1776] 1981. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Edited by Campbell, R. H. and Skinner, A. S.. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc.Google Scholar
Smith, Adam. [1759] 1982. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Edited by Raphael, D. D. and MacFie, A. L.. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc.Google Scholar
Winch, Donald. 1978. Adam Smith’s Politics: An Essay in Historiographic Revision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witztum, Amos. 2005. “Property Rights and the Right to the Fruits of One’s Labor: A Note on Adam Smith’s Jurisprudence.” Economics and Philosophy 21 (2): 279–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witztum, Amos, and Young, Jeffrey T.. 2006. “The Neglected Agent: Justice, Power, and Distribution in Adam Smith.” History of Political Economy 38 (3): 437–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar