著者

荒井 智行

出版者

経済学史学会

雑誌

経済学史研究 (ISSN:18803164)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.55, no.2, pp.73-91, 2014 (Released:2019-08-23)

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This paper analyzes Dugald Stewartʼs (1753― 1828) work on education, focusing on the fourth book, Of the Education of the Lower Orders, in his Lectures on Political Economy (1800― 1810). Stewartʼs motivation to address education in his Lectures arose from a genuine interest in the lower orderʼs lack of intellect. During the late eighteenth century, British society underwent rapid social changes, such as the diffusion of the press and advancement in the sciences. Stewart asserted the need for a new educational system commensurate with these social changes. On the other hand, Stewart was also interested in the progression of industriali-zation and the problems faced by laborers in an increasingly large labor force. He recognized that many factory laborers had been demonstrat-ing against moral corruption and ignorance as a result of excessive work. In response, Stewart demanded cuts in working hours and empha-sized workersʼ need for education. He thought it important to provide factory laborers incentives to work and thereby achieve happiness; he be-lieved such actions could help improve the hu-man mind, as repeatedly emphasized in his Lec-tures. For Stewart, “the incentive” was key to con-necting his moral philosophy with education. In his arguments on education, “the incentive,” to be provided to society was rooted in his practi-cal moral philosophy. With regard to this point, I illuminate the significance of Stewart’s view re-garding the effect of reading and literary educa-tion for incentivizing the “lower orders.” In the concluding section, I briefly summa-rize the paper and describe the significance of Stewart’s original view of education in the con-text of the history of economic thought at the turn of the nineteenth century in Britain. JEL classification numbers: B 30, B 31, I 31.