Steuart and Rousseau

Brad DeLong delong at econ.Berkeley.EDU
Sun Feb 18 21:13:41 PST 2001



>Chris's response regarding James Steuart is on target. Both Steuart and
>Rousseau were very different in their vision, although both admired Sparta.
>Steuart (1767; 1: 51) taught that slavery was a "violent method (for) making
>men laborous in raising food," he understood that the market, properly
>arranged, could accomplish the same objectives that Spartan slavery promised.
>In the past, he argued "men were ... forced to labour because they were slaves
>to others; men are now forced to labour because they are slaves to their own
>wants" (ibid.; 1: 52).

Someone someday should write a study of how people's attitudes toward the future reflect which of the classical republics--Athens, Rome, or Sparta--they admire...

Brad DeLong



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