Il 'Good Government' in Adam Smith: tra Jurisprudence, Political Œconomy e Theory of Moral Sentiments

The 'Good Government' in Adam Smith: between Jurisprudence, Political Œconomy and Theory of Moral Sentiments

Paolo Silvestri ()

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Italian Abstract: In questo saggio intendo analizzare il tema del buon governo nelle opere di Adam Smith, la cui importanza sembra non aver ricevuto la dovuta attenzione. La ricostruzione è guidata da tre ipotesi ermeneutiche riguardanti il ruolo svolto dall'idea di buon governo nello sviluppo della speculazione smithiana: 1) il «buon governo» ha un carattere sintetico, che tiene insieme i diversi aspetti - morale, giuridico, economico e politico - della sua riflessione; 2) esso emerge sullo sfondo delle prime acquisizioni della Theory of Moral Sentiments circa il ruolo di 'mediazione' della classe media, e soprattutto durante la riflessione che va dalle Lectures on Jurisprudence alla Wealth of Nations, e poi retroagisce sulle successive riscritture della Theory; 3) Dal momento in cui il «buon governo» appare, diventa un'idea descrittiva e prescrittiva dell'ordine sociale. Nelle conclusioni mostrerò come queste ipotesi ermeneutiche possano avere implicazioni nella storia del pensiero politico, giuridico ed economico. English Abstract: In this essay I intend to analyze the issue of good government in the works of Adam Smith, the importance of which seems to have not received due attention. The reconstruction is driven by three hermeneutical hypotheses concerning the role played by the idea of good government in the development of Smith's speculation: 1) the «good government» has a synthetic character, holding together the different aspects – moral, legal, economic and political – of his reflection; 2) it emerges against the backdrop of the first acquisitions of the Theory of Moral Sentiments about the ‘mediating’ role of the middle class, and especially during the reflection that goes from the Lectures on Jurisprudence to the Wealth of Nations, and then feeds back into the subsequent rewritings of the Theory; 3) From the moment the «good government» appears, it becomes a descriptive and prescriptive idea of the social order. In the conclusions I will show how these hermeneutical hypotheses might have implications in the history of political, legal and economic thought.

Keywords: Adam Smith; good government; rule of law; mixed government; political œconomy; politics and economics. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A12 A13 B12 B31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012, Revised 2011
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Published in Teoria e critica della regolazione sociale 2012 (2012): pp. 1-30

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