Smith at 300: Commercial Society and The Women's Question

Smith at 300: Contribution by Pavel Kuchar "Smith’s views on inequality have recently been examined with some interest (Rasmussen 2016; Walraewens 2021). But was Smith really genuinely interested in addressing the shortcomings of the society built on the “liberal plan of equality, liberty and justice” (WN IV.ix)? While critical accounts of Smith’s thought may tend to zero in on his concerns with absolute poverty – or the equality in the “share of the necessaries of life” (TMS IV.1.10) – rather than economic inequality, they may perhaps also tend to confuse his account of our tendencies to admire the rich, wealthy and powerful with the advocacy of a system in which the rich, wealthy and powerful ride roughshod over the poor and disempowered as long as the order of the society founded on the “distinction of ranks” (TMS I.iii.2) is preserved."