0;natural order” that Smith derives from self-interest is his ideas concerning the nature of exchange and the theory of value. Smith out rightly declares that the nature of exchange is a combination between the self-interest of two parties, that it is “not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest (22).” Smith believes that exchange takes place when both parties stand to gain, because bargainers “address [each other], not to [each other’s] humanity, but to [each other’s] self-love” (22). Similarly, Smith also bases his theory of value on the assumption that Man will always act in the manner that allows him to gain the most. Smith defines the value of any product as “equal to the quantity of labor which it enables him to purchase or command” (36). By this, Smith is using exchange to define value, and as exchange, according to Smith, is rooted in self-interest, so value is also.The final aspect of Smith’s system of natural order derived from self-interest is that of the relations between the laborer, the landlord, and the stockholder. Smith writes, “he [the stockholder] could have no interest to employ them [laborers], unless he expected … something more than what was sufficient to replace his stock to him” (46). Here, Smith has assumed that the stockholder will never have relations with laborers unless those relations leave him with more than he had to begin with, an action in the interests of self. This self-driven relationship is identical to the relationship between landlords and laborers, as the landlords “love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for its [the land’s] natural produce” (47). Again, Smith is assuming that the landlords are acting in their own interest, as they would always demand something from the laborers, ...
