Page 125 - 《社会》2024年第4期

社会·2024·4

European regions that were also involved in foreign trade did not develop a self鄄
reinforcing positive cycle of economic development. In fact， Smith clearly
distinguished between economic forms that develop naturally in accordance with the
“four鄄stages” progress and modern European societies that develop on the basis of
an “unnatural and retrograde order”. To better understand the nature and history of
modern European economic development in Smith’s theory， this article suggests
that the role of foreign trade in promoting the modern economy needs to be
understood within specific socio鄄political relations. For Smith， capital had to be
anchored in the land in order to break through economic stagnation， and a stable
and balanced modern economy required continuous agricultural investment.
Therefore， the collapse of feudal land relations induced by the rise of trade economy
and political struggles becomes the key institutional prerequisite for achieving rapid
economic development in Western Europe. It is in this sense that modern European
economic development manifests itself as “unnatural and retrograde”， that is， the
early development of distant trade led to the disintegration of feudalism in some
areas， which in turn led to the formation of a resilient agrarian economy and
increasingly vibrant commerce and manufacturing industries. Based on this historical
lesson， Smith supported the implementation of strong reforms of feudalism in
Scotland within the framework of the British Imperial Union in order to achieve the
transformation of Scottish Highland economy.
Keywords： Adam Smith， natural progress of opulence， unnatural and retrograde
order， feudalism， economic transformation

一、 引论：作为历史解释的“看不见的手”

社会秩序起源于“非意图后果” 的原理经常被视为苏格兰启蒙运
动 对 现 代 社 会 理 论 的 核 心 贡 献（ Hamowy，1987；Hayek，1988；Schneider，
1967）。 正如亚当·弗格森（Ferguson，1995：119）所说，“国家意外发现的
建制，尽管是人类行动的结果，却不是人类设计的执行”。 由于人类知
识的有限性、情境性以及人们作为社会动物的本质，社会制度的建立
并非出于某些立法者的理性与远见，而是在历史过程中逐步依靠经验
积累与环境适应发展而来。 在《国富论》中，亚当·斯密（ Smith，1976a：
456）标志性地使用了“看不见的手”这一比喻来概括自利的 个 体 自 发
地增进公共财富的现象。 借助制针厂 的 例 子 ，斯 密（ Smith，1976a：14-

· 118·