mes as stupid as it is possible for a human creature to become(Lecture Notes, 2001:5). Smith clearly argues that the division of labour halted the growth and development of the people. If the people are unable to progress, Smith believes that society suffers as well. In essence, for the society to progress and development, the people must do so first. Therefore, the division of labour, in Smiths perspective, conflicts with the ideals of the Scottish Enlightenment thinking of individual progress and development. For Adam Smith, the development of a commercial society produced a social structure divided into three classes, landowners, capitalists, and labourers, the three great constituent orders of every civilized society(Smith, 1998:27). Thus, Smiths ideal society would be of people would work for themselves. He was a strong advocate for free market and posed strong opposition to the feudal system. He, along with other Enilghtenment thinkers, believed that the State had no legitmate role in the free market. Smiths defence of the free market was tied to the belief that state interference with the market benefits the rich and hurts the poor(Lecture Notes, 2001:5). Therefore, Adam Smiths vision of an ideal society was one in which most people are involved in independent commodity production(Lecture Notes, 2001:5). Thus for society to develop and prosper as a whole, its individual members must serve their self-interests.Jean Jacques Rousseaus work, in contrast to Smiths, gives attention to the social inequalities within society created by social development. Rousseau believes the social development that the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers advocate, actually create a web of problems that previously did not exist. More specifically, his work concentrates on the articificial social inequalities. The artifical refers to the specifically socially or conventional aspects of reality the conditions of human life that are contrived or...
