The Impartial Spectator and Natural Jurisprudence: An Interpretation of Adam Smith's Theory of the Natural Price

‘Mere Inventions of the Imagination’: A Survey of Recent Literature on Adam Smith

“…J. Young (1986) and J. Young and Gordon (1996) have argued that Smith's notions of commutative and distributive justice are united, but this is challenged by Salter (1994) who argues against extensions to the remit of Smith's justice in J.…”

“…Young and Gordon (1996) have argued that Smith's notions of commutative and distributive justice are united, but this is challenged by Salter (1994) who argues against extensions to the remit of Smith's justice in J. Young (1986) and Hont and Ignatieff (1983b), on the grounds that Smith sidestepped the earlier natural law acceptance of prior natural rights for all and so eliminated subsistence for the poor as an issue of justice. Salter concludes that Smith's well-recognized concern with the poor arises from his humanity and not from his concern for justice.…”

Adam Smith on Justice and Distribution in Commercial Societies

“…For example, recognition of the narrowness of Smith's definition of justice, combined with his ambivalent attitude towards the gains and losses of commercial societies was at the heart of Cropsey's interpretation of Smith's political justice did not exclude distributional questions. Young (1986) has argued that it would have been possible for Smith to have applied the impartial spectator analysis to his theory of distribution, thereby showing that the natural price embodied community standards of strict justice. He claims that 'Smith could have explicitly introduced the impartial spectator into his chapters on value and distribution in a way which would have consistently linked the social theory of TMS with the economic analysis of WN.…”

Adam Smith on the subordination of wage-earners in the commercial society

“…On the one 54 For a discussion on the unfairness of the commercial society in Smith's writings, see Winch (1978, 87-90) who underlines "Smith's recognition (sometimes amounting to insistence) that neither the tasks nor the benefits are divided equitably in civilised societies, and his portrayal of a large number of instances in which conflict and injustice appear the order of the day" (p. 88). Winch's comment may be contrasted with Young's presentation of the natural price as a fair price, each component of which is approved by the impartial spectator (Young 1986(Young , 1997; for another defence of the morality of the natural price in Smith, see Walraevens 2010a). While profit is undoubtedly justified by Smith, to a certain extent, on the grounds that it compensates for risk-taking (because the capital owner "hazards his stock in this adventure" WN, I.v.5, 66), this interpretation is more open to criticism with regard to rent, an income which rewards a class of individuals who "reap where they never sowed" (WN,I.v.8,67; for further criticism of Young, see Salter 1997).…”