Adam Smith's Thoughts On The Origin Of The Government

Adam Smith(1723-1790),as a world-renowned economist and ethicist,also made great contributions in the field of political science and jurisprudence.Among these contributions,Adam Smith's thoughts on the origin of the government embodies the most valuable part of Smith's jurisprudence or political theory.This thesis aims to accurately explain Smith's thoughts on the origin of the government and clarify its internal logic and significance.In addition to the conclusion,the thesis consists of the following parts:Chapter 1 is an introduction,introducing the background and significance of the topic,literature review,research ideas and methods.According to the existing literature,Smith's thoughts on the origin of the government are mainly reflected in Smith's discussions on the original form of government,the relationship between the origin of the government and the private property,and the reason why the primitive people obeyed the government.These questions can represent Smith's understanding of what is the original government,why and how the government originated,and the roots of the political legitimacy of the government.It is necessary to carry out a systematic research on these issues.Chapter 2 studies Smith's thoughts on the original form of the government.Smith believed that the initial government was a government which took clan and tribe as the social form,and was led by chieftains or patriarchs.Smith's statement shows that in the clan or tribal society before the formal state appeared,there may also have governments that could manage public affairs.For the polity of the early government,Smith believed that the powers of the early government were controlled and exercised by all the people,and its regime was democratic.This view is not entirely consistent with historical reality.The governments in the primitive clan and tribal society may adopt different forms of polity according to the different characteristics of the societies.Chapter 3 studies Smith's thoughts on the relationship between the origin of the government and the private property.Smith believed that the material basis,cause and motivation of the origin of the government were all related to the private property.He believed that in hunting societies with no or very few property,there was no real government.In a society with huge property and huge inequality of property,the inequality between the rich and the poor will lead to the infringement of property and cause confrontation and conflicts between the rich and the poor,which requires the government to be established.Therefore,the root cause of the origin of the government was precisely the need for property protection caused by the development of the private property.The purpose of the establishment of the government was also mainly the protection of the private property.At the same time,the inequality of property was the main force that formed authority and obedience.It was precisely because of the inequality of property,so that the government could gradually emerge.All of the aforementioned ideas proposed by Smith are reasonable.By explaining the origin of the government from the perspective of the private property,Smith had fully explained that it was the emergence of private property that made the creation of government necessary and possible.Chapter 4 studies Smith's thoughts on the reason why primitive people obeyed the government.It mainly includes four issues,namely,Smith's demonstration of the principle of authority and the principle of utility,Smith's criticism of the doctrine of original contract,the source of thought and the theoretical value of Smith's thoughts.Smith believed that the reasons people voluntarily obey the governor and the government lies in the principle of authority and the principle of utility.The principle of authority means that the people voluntarily obey the government and the magistrate because of the political authority of the government and the magistrate.The principle of utility,that is,the people voluntarily obey the government and the magistrate because the government and the magistrate have certain utility,for example,they can give the people obvious benefits or actual benefits.Smith also criticized the doctrine of original contract in Britain from the perspectives of ordinary people's political concepts,the continued validity of the original contract,and realistic political practice.Thus,Smith had fully demonstrated that the social contract is not the reason and basis for people to obey the government.The government is based on the principle of authority and the principle of utility.Smith's thoughts on the principle of authority mainly came from his research on human nature from the perspective of ethics;His thoughts on the principle of utility mainly came from his refinement of the existing political theory in the Enlightenment;His critical views of the doctrine of original contract came largely from Hume.By explaining the principle of authority and the principle of utility,Smith had demonstrated the universal reasons why the people obey the government,and had provided a new approach to think about the political legitimacy of the country or the government.Chapter 5 studies the characteristics and significance of Smith's thoughts on the origin of the government.Smith's thoughts has three characteristics,namely,the path of economic interpretation,the epistemological empiricism,and its coincidence with the Marxist theory on the origin of the state.As for the significance of Smith's thoughts,it is mainly manifested in two aspects: On the one hand,Smith had shaken the foundations of the theory of God's will and the social contract theory on the origin of the state or the government,and proposed a more scientific and empirical theory of the origin of the government;On the other hand,Smith had created the germination of historical materialism,and his thoughts can provide theoretical support for the theory of the origin of the state or the government based on historical materialism.