Alejandra Morales
Dale Carrico
Homo Economicus
11/24/15
In the book of Wealth of Nation by Adam Smith in chapter 2 justifies which are the
principles of the division of labour. Of
the Principle Which Gives Occasion to the Division of Labour, Smith describes
that the principle of labour in resume words, comes from a natural necessity of
the human being to truck, barter and exchange commodities from one to another
and since animals lack of reason and speech they act in a different way.
Smith proposes that what makes the
mankind and the division of labour is the propensity to truck, barter and
exchange items. This action can be observed within any society, which
encourages producing labour. It is only humans who have the characteristic that
no other being has and this is the necessity of exchange commodities. The first
of the reasons we are part of this division are the consequences of the faculty
of reason and speech. Smith gives one example comparing the behavior of dogs
and humans. Two greyhounds are chasing
the same hare, and then one of them realizes the other dog is they’re also chasing
the same hare. While one greyhound looks at the other, as Adam Smith describes
this as an accidental concurrence of their passions.” When an animal wants to
obtain something whether is another animal or a human being this won’t have the
persuasion to obtain something just from free will since he doesn’t have reason
or speech. A dog can go with his master
and try to obtain the attention of him just to get fed or to get water. The
human being can also work this way with his kind, begging for attention acting
in a fawn way just to get what he wants by providing enough evidence to that
person that they helping him is actually helping themselves and nothing more.
In civilized society the man needs cooperation
and assistance of others, his success depends on the genius of others matching
the genius of his own, while with animals, once they reach maturity they are
completely independent and must survive off of their own individual attributes
and skills, or genius. The defining factor between humans and all other living
species is not only our discovery of reason and speech, but is our labor in the
practice for our passion. “ Give me what
I want, and shall have this which you want, ” describes that what we obtain
comes from another part, which the thought is mutual. The difference of men’s
talents it is not as different as it’s supposed to be in fact is really
similar. When human are in a young age they grow up similar to other kids but
later than the age of 8 they can start choosing different thought about this,
and is because of reason. After being 8
years old humans begin to notice their talents and they become employed in
different occupations. This is an example of a principle of the division of
labour. It is education, habit or custom
which makes it and us different doesn’t come from the natural being.
Smith gives us another example, they
don’t think about your needs instead they look for their own interest, which is
sell or exchange. For human kind there’s no humanity just self-love, which is,
address our necessities and the advantages. An example is a hunter who knows
his ability to build bows and arrows better than other, he knows that this
ability will help him exchange his work for cattle’s or venison in an easier
way than he goes to the fields an catch them by himself. In this way he finds
it his interest to dedicate his life to this way of life, building arrows and
bows for the exchange of something and that’s how the employment starts,
exchanging work for others works.
To conclude, the human being is
different from any other species for the distinction that men can reason and
can talk. It is natural for other species to act for their own convenience and
survival but it is man who has the reason to exchange and take what he wants
but depending from other men. There’s no difference between kids or even babies
or a dog from another dog but it is from their “genius” and talent to survive by
their own without any exchange just by their simply disposition of defend
themselves. By the contrary men their geniuses are of use to one another, they
survive in society with their talent to exchange, barter and truck.
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