. The Idea of a Commercial Society
. The Idea of a Commercial Society
The core of the Scots’ idea of a commercial society is that is a ‘society’ not a polity or clan, even though it contains governments and families. These latter two are component parts of the interlocking set of institutions, behaviour and values that constitute a ‘society’ Compared to their contemporaries the Scots develop a more coherent notion of commerce as permeating all social institutions. Its institutions form an ideal-typical whole that is superior to earlier social formations; it is an advance on a society of land-owners, pastoralists and hunters and also from mercantile republics. The Scots see the world of commerce as a temporal formation and though there has been progress are they are acutely sensitive that it is not some perfect functioning system.
Keywords: Commerce, Society, Progress, Institutions
Edinburgh Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
