Brewer's interpretation is compatible with mine. Brewer’s contribution was to examine the passage against the background of eighteenth century debates about luxury, and argued the passage makes the point that while income and consumption may be unequal, the consumption of necessities such as food is equalised, and perhaps the rich are no happier in the end than the poor. Macfie called attention to the natural theological background of the passage, then concentrated on Stoic natural theologies, though he ended up puzzled by the inconsistencies with the other invisible hand passages, and called for further investigation of the natural theological background. The literature specifically on the invisible hand passage in Theory of Moral Sentiments is not extensive, with the two substantial treatments being Macfie ( 1970) and Brewer ( 2009). Some of the interpreters who see the hand as divine were mentioned in the introduction, notably Viner ( 1927). As Vivenza points out, similar discussions in classical literature abound, and we cannot be sure this work was in fact Smith’s source. Examining this work, Vivenza found a discussion of the hidden activity of Jupiter interrupting the normal course of events that connects with Smith's use of the invisible hand image in his early essay History of Astronomy. 859 of the standard edition) cites Dion Cassius on Roman inheritance law and mentions in a note the 1734 work of Burman de Vectigalibus. She notes that Adam Smith at WN V.ii.h.3 (p. It is reasonable to suppose Smith was similarly influenced by the common providential associations.Īnother intriguing suggestion about the source of the invisible hand image was made by Gloria Vivenza ( 2008). Harrison suggests that Thomas Norton’s 1561 translation “the secret sturring of the hand of God” is truer to the original Latin and that the 1762 editor seems to have been influenced by the providential associations of the invisible hand phrase. I grant there doth not always appear the like reason, but doubtless we ought to believe, that whatsoever changes of things are seen in the world, are brought about by the direction and influence of God’s invisible hand”. Smith seems to be transferring the idea from history to the economy.Īn intriguing discovery by Harrison is that the 1762 Glasgow edition of Calvin’s Institutes translates Calvin’s Latin in Book 1 84 as “But those things which appear to us to happen by chance, faith will acknowledge to have been owing to a secret impulse of God. It is an expression of the Christian doctrine of divine providential care for humanity. The idea usually expressed is that God accomplishes his purposes in history in spite of the intentions of human agents. As Viner stated in correspondence November 3, 1965, responding to questions from Alec Macfie about Smith’s personal faith “I am not really interested in Smith’s views re religion except as items of intellectual history to be analysed if at all for their logical character and their relevance to his thought on other matters”.Ĭommentators have speculated about where Smith might have picked up the invisible hand language-ranging from straightforward associations with divine hands in the Bible to Emma Rothschild’s ( 1994) suggestion that it could be bloody and invisible hand of Shakespeare's Macbeth.Ī recent thorough investigation of previous usage by the historian of science Peter Harrison ( 2011) shows that hidden and invisible hands were frequently discussed in sermons, devotional works and Biblical commentaries in the seventeenth century. 554), if correct, is about Smith's personal faith rather than the influence of theology in forming Smith's ideas, which was the more important question that interested Viner. Coase’s conclusion “it seems to me that Viner much exaggerates the extent to which Adam Smith was committed to a belief in a personal God” ( 1976, p. Two scholars who took up Viner's questions were Bitterman ( 1940), whose work reinforced Viner’s conclusions and Coase ( 1976) who disagreed. The Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton contains many kilograms of evidence of his pursuit. Two posthumously published works (Viner 1972, 1978) give some indication of Viner’s vast reading over subsequent decades as he pursued the question of the religious background of eighteenth century political economy. Jacob Viner, after writing his classic paper for the Chicago celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Wealth of Nations, published little else on the topic.
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