Analysis of Liberty in Society
Analysis of Liberty in SocietyBoth Adam Smith and Alexis de Tocqueville agree that an
individual is the most qualified to make decisions affecting the
sphere of the individual as long as those decisions do not violate the
law of justice. From this starting point, each theorist proposes a
role of government and comments on human nature and civil society.
Smith focuses on economic liberty and the ways in which government can
repress this liberty, to the detriment of society. De Tocqueville
emphasizes political liberty and the way that government can be
organized to promote political liberty, protect individual liberty,
and promote civil liberty.
Adam Smith's theory makes a strong argument for the assertion
that a free market will provide overall good for society, but, as de
Tocqueville points out, it provides little or no protection for the
poor. Smith's picture of human nature given in The Theory of Moral
Sentiments suggests that people would do good and take care of the
weak because of characteristics of their nature. Unfortunately, this
image contrasts with the picture of the individual which emerges from
his economic argument in Wealth of Nations and is a generally
unsatisfying answer.
In attempting to define liberty, Adam Smith is mostly
concerned with negative liberty, or freedom from constraint,
especially market constraints. According to him, in a free market, as
long as they are not fettered by government regulation, actions are
guided toward the public good as if by an invisible hand. Furthermore,
the economic sphere is the determining section of society. Therefore
from his economic model, he derives his argument for the best role of
government and asserts that the resultant society will be the best
overall for civilization.
Since he defines the individual as sovereign (within the laws
of justice), and he defines liberty as freedom from constraint, his
argument begins with the individual, defining a man's labor as the
foundation of all other property. From this it follows that the
disposition of one's labor, without harm to others, is an inviolable
right which the government should not restrict in any way (Smith 215).
He uses his economic theory to support his belief that this limitation
on government action creates the most overall good for society.
First, he defines all prices as being determined by labor
(Smith 175). Since labor causes raw materials to have value, Smith
asserts that labor confers ownership, but when stock is used there
must be something given for the profits of the investors, so labor
resolves itself into wages and prices (185). The support for the free
market lies in the way the prices are determined and the inner
workings of the market. The prices ultimately come from the value of
labor. A capitalist will want to produce as much as possible, in order
to make the greatest profit, therefore...
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