The idea of commercial society: Smith & Bentham
Etablissement : ESPOL European School of Political and Social Sciences
Langue : Anglais
Formation(s) dans laquelle/lesquelles le cours apparait :
Période : S4
“The eighteenth century produced a vision of the future as a global market of competing commercial states.” (I. Hont, 2005, 4). In this PPE course, I will interrogate Hont’s assertion by examining the dialogue between Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham on their conception of commercial society. We will investigate their moral philosophy, economic theory, political philosophy and understanding of politics around a set of issues which are taken to be central to the idea of “commercial society”.
2/ Bentham’s utilitarianism & moral equality
3/ Smith’s moral sentiment theory & moral equality
4/ Moral Equality and Liberalism: Which conception of moral equality is the most robust ?
Part. 2: equality in political economy
5/ Bentham’s political economy & the four subordinate ends
6/ Smith’s political economy & natural inequalities
7/ Economic inequalities in practice: Debates on pauper management (Bentham & Smith)
8/ Economic inequalities in practice: Debates on rich-poor countries in IR (Bentham & Smith)
Part. 3: equality in politics
9/ Smith’s 4 stages theory & the idea of commercial society
10/ assessing inequalities in Smith’s missing ‘political theory’
11/ Bentham’s legal theory & the idea of commercial society
12/ assessing inequalities in Bentham’s democratic theory
