%0 Journal Article
%T Theorising commercial society: Rousseau, Smith and Hont
%A Robin Douglass
%J European Journal of Political Theory
%@ 1741-2730
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1474885118782390
%X In his posthumously published lectures, Politics in Commercial Society, Istv¨¢n Hont argues that Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith should be understood as theorists of commercial society. This article challenges Hont¡¯s interpretation of both thinkers and shows that some of his key claims depend on conflating the terms ¡®commercial society¡¯ and ¡®commercial sociability¡¯. I argue that, for Smith, commercial society should not be defined in terms of the moral psychology of commercial sociability, before questioning Hont¡¯s Epicurean interpretation of Smith¡¯s theory of sociability. I then turn to Rousseau and outline some of the difficulties involved with classifying him as a theorist of commercial society, the most important of which is that he often appeared to be more deeply opposed to commercial progress than Hont suggests. I conclude by highlighting some of the most salient differences between Rousseau¡¯s and Smith¡¯s views of the politics of eighteenth-century Europe
%K Adam Smith
%K commercial society
%K history of political thought
%K Istv¨¢n Hont
%K Rousseau
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1474885118782390