The Paradox of Progress: Decline and Decay in The Wealth of Nations
The Paradox of Progress: Decline and Decay in The Wealth of Nations
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进步的悖论：国富的衰落和衰退
DOI：
10.2307/2708728
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发表时间：
1973
影响因子：
0.6
通讯作者：
R. Heilbroner
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
R. Heilbroner
是隐藏在斯密的经济和社会进化体系中的深刻的悲观主义。可以肯定的是，许多作家已经注意到斯密的经济发展的宏伟轨迹终止于停滞和静止的状态，最近的注意力集中在斯密承认“异化”是商业社会的一个组成部分。斯密论述的这两条线索并没有联系在一起，从而产生一种令人不安但又不可避免的判断，即斯密的经济和社会哲学最终是站不住脚的彼此之间的关系。因为《国富论》的令人不安的含义，从整体上看，是它所支持的社会经济制度，既不能在持续经济改善的承诺中，也不能在普遍社会改善的前景中找到其正当性。相反，我们面对的是一种衰退和腐朽并存的进化趋势的悲观预测--在经济旅程的终点等待着物质的衰退，社会在其旅程中遭受道德的沦丧。我希望在这篇文章中探讨的，正是斯密思想中这种没有得到充分研究的阴暗面。这项任务将导致分三个阶段进行讨论。首先，我将尽可能简明扼要地介绍历史进步和经济增长的基本模式，以便为分析随后的中心问题奠定基础。其次，我们必须研究道德沦丧和经济衰退的原因，
is the profound pessimism concealed within Smith's economic and social scheme of evolution. To be sure, many writers have noted that Smith's grand trajectory of economic development terminates in a stagnant as well as stationary state, and recently attention has been focused on Smith's recognition of "alienation" as an integral part of commercial society.1 To the best of my knowledge, however, these two strands of Smith's exposition have not been tied together to yield the disconcerting but inescapable judgment that Smith's economic and social philosophies are ultimately indefensible in terms of one another. For the disturbing import of The Wealth of Nations, taken in its entirety, is that it espouses a socio-economic system that can find its justification neither in the promise of continuous economic betterment nor in the prospect of general social betterment. Instead we are faced with the deeply pessimistic prognosis of an evolutionary trend in which both decline and decay attend-material decline awaiting at the terminus of the economic journey, moral decay suffered by society in the course of its journeying. It is this insufficiently examined dark side of Smith's thought that I wish to explore in this essay. The task will lead to a discussion in three stages. First, I shall present as succinctly as possible the basic schemata of historical progress and economic growth, in order to set the stage for an analysis of the central issues to follow. Next, we must look into the causes of moral decay and economic decline, as