Nature as adversary: the rise of modern economic conceptions of nature
2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 39; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/03085141003620154
ISSN1469-5766
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Economic and Social Studies
ResumoAbstract Abstract This article problematizes the reliance of ecological economics on neo-classical economic analysis by revealing an adversarial conception of nature in modern economic ontology. It traces the rise in post-classical economics of this adversarial conception, which superseded the idea of a natural moral economy in classical political economy. The origins of this transformation in the conception of nature are located in the breakdown of the long-standing project of natural theology in Britain during the first half of the nineteenth century, precipitated by the geological controversies of the 1820s and 1830s. Keywords: ecological economicsnaturepolitical economymoral economynatural theologyneo-classical economics Acknowledgements I would like to thank Johnna Montgomerie, Ronen Palan, Susanna Rust and my colleagues in the School of Political, Social and International Studies at the University of East Anglia for their feedback on earlier versions of this article. I am also grateful for the valuable comments provided by the anonymous reviewers, which helped me to refine my argument. Notes 1 A clear antecedent is found in the Thomistic tradition. Aquinas taught that 'nature works for a predetermined end through the direction of a higher agent' (1954 Aquinas, T. 1954. Nature and grace: Selections from the Summa theologica of Thomas Aquinas, London: Westminster John Knox Press. [Google Scholar], p. 56), and that through understanding nature one comes to better understand God. 2 In Reformed Protestantism, nature was hardly recognized as benevolent, especially given the perception of the depraved state of human nature. Still, there developed nothing resembling the adversarial conception that appeared in the nineteenth century. If one lacked divine grace, no human action could change this predetermined situation. Calvin, though, did see nature as the 'face of God', but it was beyond human ability to know or control nature. The 'governance of creation transcended human understanding…Nature left the believer with only a "glimpse" or "taste" of divine providence' (Schreiner, 2006, p. 75). 3 The origins of 'laissez-faire, laissez-passer' are debatable. The account that it was coined by leaders of French commerce responding to the king's question 'what can the government do for you?' appears to be apocryphal (Feiner, 2002 Feiner, S. 2002. "The political economy of the divine". In Exchange and deception: A feminist perspective, Edited by: Gerschlager, C. and Mokre, M. Boston, MA: Kluwer. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], pp. 66–7). Physiocracy's conviction of nature's law later diminished. Second-generation économistes adapted to criticisms of the 'utopian' conception of the ordre naturel in Quesnay and Mirabeau. Second-wave theories had recourse to 'legal despotism' as a safeguard for the property relations conducive to the optimal produit net, and advised a more redistributive and educative role for the state (Hochstrasser, 2006 Hochstrasser, T. 2006. "Physiocracy and the politics of laissez-faire". In The Cambridge history of eighteenth-century political thought, Edited by: Goldie, M. and Wokler, R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 4 '[L]ater interpreters of scripture associated the existence of the tree of life, described mainly in the biblical book of Solomon, with the fact that Adam and Eve were not naturally immortal, but were equipped with knowledge of where to find, and how to use, the fruits of the tree of life so that they would never die' (Sonenscher, 2008, p. 258). 5 Smith originally intended to dedicate The wealth of nations to Quesnay, praising that '[t]his system [Physiocracy], however, with all its imperfections is, perhaps, the nearest approximation to the truth that has yet been published upon the subject of political oeconomy' (as in Hochstrasser, 2006 Hochstrasser, T. 2006. "Physiocracy and the politics of laissez-faire". In The Cambridge history of eighteenth-century political thought, Edited by: Goldie, M. and Wokler, R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], p. 420). 6 It is uncertain whether Smith read 'The oeconomy of nature', though the tract (Biberg, 1775) was popular in Smith's day, and writings of Linnaeus appear in his library (Bonar, 1894 Bonar, J. 1894. A catalogue of the library of Adam Smith, London: Macmillan. [Google Scholar]). 7 Paley was a key figure of the common context. Jager calls him the 'instructor of millions'; though not hugely original, his work was ubiquitous. 'Every university-educated man would have encountered Paley's works at least once during his career; many…came under their influence indirectly…virtually every orthodox clergyman during the romantic era would have turned to Paley, in sermon or pamphlet, for a defense of natural theology, of practical biblical ethics, and of miracles' (Jager, 2006 Jager, C. 2006. The book of God: Secularization and design in the Romantic era, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. [Google Scholar], p. 103). Paley was also a voice of authority among dissenting theologians. Despite Paley's nominal support for adherence to the doctrine of the Trinity, Unitarians would claim him as their own (Sparks, 1823 Sparks, J. 1823. An inquiry into the comparative moral tendency of Trinitarian and Unitarian doctrines, Boston, MA: Wells & Lilly. [Google Scholar], p. 94). 8 Claims of an agnostic/atheistic Ricardo remain unsubstantiated. Little indicates insincerity on Ricardo's part. In an 1816 letter of condolence, Ricardo defers to 'an all-wise disposer' and 'omnipotence', to which his friend responded, 'I so often hear similar allusions made by everyday people, to which I rarely give reply, but when somebody of your sane mind and superior reflection' (Weatherall, 1976, p. 65). Ricardo's life was defined by questions of religion, from his abandonment of Judaism to his impassioned arguments in parliament for religious toleration. His support for the rights of non-believers was not a veiled defence of atheism, but rather indicative of his belief in the divine gift of free will. Ricardo was suspicious of moralizing by religious authorities, but this reflected a belief that dogma was the refuge of those of little faith. Hinting at Ricardo's view of religion is an excerpt he copied down from Hall's Travels in Canada: 'I have opened the volume of nature before your eyes, says the Deity, and permitted you to draw your own conclusions. You shall read in my book, says Established Religion, and believe all it contains, under pain of persecution in this life, and damnation in the next…A political system which thus substitutes the outcry of the pride and ignorance for the voice of nature, is built on the principles of force and fraud' (Hall, 1818 Hall, F. 1818. Travels in Canada, and the United States, in 1816 and 1817, London: Longman, Hirst, Rees, Orme & Brown. [Google Scholar], p. 507; Ricardo, 2004a Ricardo D. 2004a The works and correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 10, Biographical miscellany Sraffa P. Indianapolis, IN Liberty Fund [Google Scholar], p. 395). 9 Veblen coined the term 'neo-classical economics' (1900 Veblen, T. 1900. The preconceptions of economic science, III. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 14(2): 240–69. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], p. 265). 10 The omission of religion is most notable in the work of Michael W. White, the foremost Jevons scholar. See also Maas (1999 Maas, H. 1999. Mechanical rationality: Jevons and the making of economic man. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 30A(4): 587–619. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2005 Maas, H. 2005. William Stanley Jevons and the making of modern economics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]), Mosselmans (2000 Mosselmans, B. 2000. "Cracking the canon: William Stanley Jevons and the deconstruction of 'Ricardo". In The canon in the history of economics, Edited by: Psalidopoulos, M. London: Routledge. [Google Scholar], 1998 Mosselmans, B. 1998. William Stanley Jevons and the extent of meaning in logic and economics. History and Philosophy of Logic, 19(2): 83–99. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Peart (1996 Peart, S. 1996. The economics of W. S. Jevons, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]) and Schabas (1989 Schabas, M. 1989. Alfred Marshall, W. Stanley Jevons, and the mathematization of economics. Isis, 80(301): 60–73. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 1990 Schabas, M. 1990. A world ruled by number: William Stanley Jevons and the rise of mathematical economics, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 11 White (1993 White, M. V. 1993. The Irish factor in Jevons's statistics: A note. History of Economics Review, 19: 79–85. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) documents Jevons' dubious use of statistics in attributing excessive mortality in large towns to the presence of Irish immigrants, a race he deemed more prone to intemperance. 12 Quoted from Jevons' lecture notes (as in White, 1994b White, M. V. 1994b. A five per cent racist? Rejoinder to Professor Hutchison. History of Economics Review, 21: 71–86. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], p. 76). 13 The clearest indication of Jevons' cosmogony is in his Principles of science (1958).
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