【作者简介】朱华辉 清华大学人文与社会科学高等研究所

【文章来源】《社会》2024年第4期

【内容提要】斯密的“非自然与倒退次序”理论常常被视作解释现代资本主义诞生的重要范式。一般认为，该理论的要点在于远途贸易与商业化作为“看不见的手”引导欧洲经济自发地走向现代。但在斯密的历史学中，远途贸易并不总能带来经济的现代化，卷入其中的非西欧地区就没有形成自我强化的经济发展正循环。实际上，贸易对现代经济的推动作用需要放置在特定的社会—政治关系下来认识。斯密认为，资本必须固定在土地上才能够冲破经济停滞的罗网，而稳定平衡的现代经济也需要持续不断的农业投资。因此，在贸易经济和政治角逐背景下封建土地关系的瓦解是西欧实现快速发展的关键制度前提。在这个意义上，现代欧洲的经济发展才呈现出了“非自然与倒退”的特征。基于这一历史教训，斯密支持在英帝国联合的框架下实施有力的封建制改革，以实现苏格兰高地经济的转型。

【关 键 词】亚当·斯密, 富裕的自然进程, 非自然与倒退次序, 封建制, 经济转型

【基金项目】本文得到清华大学人文与社会科学高等研究所“水木学者”博士后项目资助。

【全文链接】https://www.society.shu.edu.cn/CN/Y2024/V44/I4/117

“Unnatural and Retrograde Order”: Adam Smith on the Institutional Foundation of Modern Economic Transformation

Abstract: Adam Smith’s theory of “unnatural and retrograde order” is often viewed as an important paradigm for explaining the birth of modern capitalism. It is generally believed that central to this theory is the notion that distant trade and commercialization acted as the “invisible hand” that guided the European economy spontaneously towards modernity. However， in Smith’s historiography， distant trade did not always lead to economic modernization， and many non-Western European regions that were also involved in foreign trade did not develop a self-reinforcing positive cycle of economic development. In fact， Smith clearly distinguished between economic forms that develop naturally in accordance with the “four-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-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.

Key words: Adam Smith, natural progress of opulence, unnatural and retrograde order, feudalism, economic transformation