商业社会与世界秩序亚当·斯密的国际政治观述评

A Commercial Society and the World OrderA Review of Adam Smith’s View of International Politics

  • 摘要: 亚当·斯密的国际政治观,与18世纪西欧商业社会的兴起息息相关。斯密站在这一历史高度,以个人自由为终极关怀,以人性为逻辑起点,认为国家而非国际社会是个人关心的主体;世界秩序需要国际法、外交、均势和结盟来维护;战争具有不可根除性,因此国防重于国富;贸易既能引发国家间的仇恨,也能实现利益双赢和均势的形成;通过回应当时的美洲问题,指出传统的殖民压迫和强权统治必然被时代抛弃。综之,斯密既不是一位好斗的霍布斯主义者,也不是幻想永久和平的康德主义者,而是一位冷静的格劳秀斯主义者。他的上述思想为国际政治理论中的人性现实主义和国家中心现实主义提供了思想源泉,更为人类理解当今的国际局势以及未来的世界秩序提供了有益启示。

     

    Abstract: Adam Smith's views of international politics were closely related to the rise of a commercial society in Western Europe in the 18th century. Standing at this historical height, Smith took individual freedom as the ultimate concern and regarded humanity as the logical starting point. He insisted that the state, rather than the international community, was the subject of individual concern; the world order required international laws, diplomacy, the balance of power, and alliance; war could not be eradicated, so national defense was more important than national opulence; trade could not only cause hatred between countries, but also achieve win-win interests and balance of power. By responding to the problems of the Americas at that time, he insisted that the traditional colonial oppression and rule by force must be abandoned by the times. In a word, Smith was neither a combative Hobbesian nor a Kantian who fancied perpetual peace, but a sober Grotiusian. His thoughts above provided a source of thought for the humanity realism and the state-centered realism in the international political theory, and provided beneficial enlightenment for mankind to understand the current international situation and the future international order.

     

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