Adam Smith and the Liberal Plan

Jerry Evensky ()
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Jerry Evensky: Syracuse University

A chapter in Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations After 250 Years, 2026, pp 83-106 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Adam Smith envisioned human society as evolving through four stages: hunting and gathering, pasturage, agriculture, and commerce. The limiting case of this evolution, the ideal of human society, is a commercial society that achieves “the liberal plan of equality, liberty and justice” (WN, 664). Smith did not see that ideal as achievable. An ideal society requires ideal human beings. We are not ideal. Individuals and factions undermine the ideal by seeking advantages that deny equality, constrain liberty, and violate justice. That said, Smith nevertheless, believed as a matter of faith that humankind could approximate the ideal. The four stages represent the progress humankind has made. His agenda was to encourage humankind to identify and embrace the principles of equality, liberty, and justice, to realize as much as possible the liberal plan. To encourage that pursuit he demonstrates that the liberal plan comes with benefits. It maximizes the wealth of the nation. Smith’s Wealth of Nations tells this story.

Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-32299-9_5

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