Western Civ. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

p Western Civilization : The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

2007

Book One of Adam Smith 's The Wealth of Nations ' articulates the following

I . Nature of Human Beings

First , he described his point of view with regards to the nature of human beings (Smith n .p . For him , human beings are motivated by selfish interests (Smith n .p . Adam Smith stated that human beings are motivated by selfish interests , however , without him knowing so (Smith n .p . He said that an invisible hand is actually the one leading the

individual in such manner that , in the end , leads to the attainment of a situation or objective that is for the well-being of the individual and everyone else (Smith n .p . This means that by acting on their own individual /personal interests , people play a large role in the attainment of a natural balance in the system (Smith n .p . It is to be reiterated , however , that human beings do not act on their own /personal wants in their desire to play a role in the attainment of the aforementioned natural balance (Smith n .p . Individuals do not consciously aim to contribute to the benefit of the society at large (Smith n .p . This is precisely because according to Adam Smith , people are by nature self-interested (Smith n .p

In addition to the aforementioned , according to Adam Smith , people are driven to act in a certain way not only because of self-interest but also because of the following : 1 ) concern /sympathy for other individuals 2 ) want for economic freedom and other sort of freedom 3 a sense of propriety 4 ) a habit of labor as well as 5 ) a natural tendency to exchange goods for another commodity (Smith n .p

II . Division of Labor

Second , Adam Smith believes that the division of labor actually increases the efficiency of labor (Smith n .p . According to Adam Smith , economic development will never occur without the division of labor (Smith n .p . The division of labor is where a trade carried out by only a few people has turned into that which is composed of branches with numerous operations technically known as specialization ' which actually resulted in greater efficiency in the production of the business (Smith n .p . Furthermore , division of labor , specifically specialization ' is productive because : 1 ) it allows repetition of tasks , thus , upholding dexterity 2 ) it lessens the loss of working time entailed in changing from one task to another and 3 ) it facilitates the invention of machinery (Smith n .p

III . Exchange of and for Different Goods

Third , Adam Smith says that , the assurance of being able to trade all that spare part of the `turn out ' of his own effort , which is in excess of and greater than his own utilization , for such parts of the `turn out ' of other individual 's toil as he may have occasion for , persuades every man to concern himself to a particular activity , and to develop and bring to excellence whatever ability or genius...