Economics 305
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEST: PLATO TO ADAM SMITH
Fall 2008
Instructor: Dr. Donald J. Oswald
Office Hours: MW 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Office: BDC rm. #259 A
Phone: 654-2465/2181
E-Mail: doswald@csub.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines the pre-modern economy of the West from the ancient
Greeks up to the dawn of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. It
attempts to highlight in what ways those economies were or were not modern and
to explain those differences in the context of the cultures within
which they were embedded. The overriding concern of the course is to attempt to
explain the economic development of the West. The course also examines the ideas that people used
before Adam Smith to understand their economic world. Finally, it explores how
those ideas dramatically changed during the course of the scientific revolution
and how that transformation in thought helped to give rise to the political
economy of Adam Smith and the development of the West.
REQUIRED READING
Larry Neal & Rondo Cameron, A Concise Economic History of the World,
4th
ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003) (NC)
Materials available over the internet from the instructor's web site at http://www.csubak.edu/~doswald. (See APPENDIX 1 for Reading List.)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Read all the assigned materials.
2. Satisfactory completion of the following: five quizzes worth 25 points each;
a take-home
examination worth 150 points; a paper worth up to150 points (see APPENDIX 3 and item 3 below for details on the
paper); and an in-class final examination worth 150 points. The
total points available in the course are 525. The final
examination will be comprehensive and will include essay
questions and some short-answer bonus questions specifically
covering your readings and lectures.
3. The topic for your paper must be selected and a typed abstract of no more than one page, with a partial
bibliography, submitted for review and approval no later than October 5,
2006. This is not a graded assignment, but your
finished paper will be docked one (1) point for each day
that the abstract is late (up to 15 points).
4. Examination questions and the term paper will be assessed a
10% penalty if they are not turned in on time. There will be no make-up of
missed quizzes. Your two lowest quiz scores will be dropped. Late examination
papers will not be accepted after an assignment has been returned to the class.
5. Final grades will be assigned based on each student's earned
points as a percentage of the total points available on all
assigned work and in accordance with the following scale:
A:90-100%; B: 80-89%; C: 70-79%; etc. Plus and minus grades will
be assigned where appropriate.
6. The principles on academic honesty set forth in the college
catalog will be adhered to in this course.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. Upon completion of this course, you will have a greater appreciation for the
power of ideas over our lives.
More specifically, the course will:
2. aid you in developing an understanding and appreciation of the ever-present economic problem and how effective cultures in the pre-modern West were in dealing with scarcity;
3. help you to explore the social and intellectual milieu of
pre-modern Western culture;
4. increase your awareness of the extent to which religious and philosophical
ethical beliefs influenced the development of science among the Greeks, the Medievals, and
the founders of modern science.
5. help you to appreciate the key roll of science and technological change in
the economic growth of the West;
6. assist you in exploring the extent to which the scientific revolution altered
the West's thinking about the nature of the economic dimension of life, the
place and meaning of the individual within society, and the role of government.
COURSE MATERIAL, HISTORICAL TIME LINE, AND
READING SCHEDULE
"The history of Greece and Rome is a witness and an
example of the intimate relation which always exists between
men's ideas adn their social state." Numa Denis Fustel De
Coulanges, The Ancient City, 1864.
HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF PHILOSOPHIC &
ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND SYSTEMS
The Bronze Age
Homer mid-8th century
Hesiod late 8th century
The Pre-Socratic Tradition
Ionian Naturalists: Thales (c. 640-546 B.C.),
Anaximander (c. 611-547 B.C.), Anaximenes (6th Century B.C.),
Anaxagoras (c. 500-428 B.C.), Heraclitus (c. 500 B.C.),
Empedocles (490-435 B.C.); and, the Eleatic School of
Parmenides (c. 500 B.C.) and Zeno of Elea (c. 475 B.C.);
Xonophanes
Pythagoreans: Pythagoras (c. 582-c. 507 B.C.)
Atomists: Leucippus of Abdera and Democritus (c. 460-370
B.C.); Epicurus (341-270 B.C.); Lucretius (99- 55 B.C.)
Sophists: Protagoras (481-411 B.C.), Gorgias (483-375
B.C.), Pyrrho (360-270 B.C.)
The Archaic Age
Solon c. 639-c. 559 B.C.
Pisistratus c. 605-c. 527 B.C.
Cleisthenes fl. c. 510 B.C.
Classical Greek and Roman Period
Pericles c. 495-429 B.C.
Euripides c. 485-406 B.C.
Herodotus 484-425? B.C.
Socrates 469-399 B.C.
Thucydides c. 460-c. 400 B.C.
Xenophon 430-347 B.C.
Plato 427-347 B.C.
Eudoxus of Cnidus 409-356 B.C.
Heraclides of Pontus c. 390-c. 322 B.C.
Calippus of Cyzidus c. 370 - c. 300 B.C.
Aristotle 384-322 B.C.
Zeno of Citium 336-264 B.C. (Stoicism)
Epicurius of Samos 342-270 B.C. (Epicureanism)
Euclid 4th Century B.C.
Aristarchus of Samos 310-230 B.C.
Archimedes 287-212 B.C.
Eratosthenes c. 275 - c. 195 B.C.
Pliny the Elder 23-79 A.D.
Pliny the Elder 23-79 A.D.
Claudius Ptolemy 90-168 A.D.
Plotinus 204-269 A.D. (Neo-Platonism)
Athenagoras 3rd Century A.D.
Basil the Great 329 - 379 B.C.
Augustine 354-430 A.D.
Alaric I 370-410 A.D.
Gaiseric 390-477 A.D.
"Dark Ages"
Odoacer 435-493
Boethius 475-524
John Philoponos c. 475 - c. 565
Venerable Bede c. 673-735
Charlemagne 742-814 (Feudalism)
The Middle Ages
Anselm 1033-1109
Roscellinus 11th Century
Peter Abelard 1079-1142
Adelard of Bath 12th Century
William of Champeaux d. 1121
Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274
Dante Alighieri 1165-1321
William of Ockham c. 1300-1349
Jean Buridan c. 1295-1358
Roger Bacon 1214-1294
Nichole Oresme c. 1323-1382
Nicholas of Cusa c. 1401-1464
The Renaissance to the 17th Century
Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
Machiavelli 1469-1527
Thomas More 1478-1535 (Utopianism)
William Gilbert 1540-1603
Copernicus 1473-1543
The Seventeenth Century (Scientific
Revolution/Mercantilism)
Simon Stevin 1548-1620
Francis Bacon 1561-1627
Thomas Campanello 1568-1639
Isaac Beeckman 1588-1637
Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679
Galileo 1564-1642
Hugo Grotius 1583-1645 (International Law)
Kepler 1571-1630
Pierre Gassendi 1592-1655
Rene Descartes 1596-1649
Christian Huygens 1629-96
Baruch Spinoza 1632-77
John Locke 1632-1704 (Classical Liberalism)
Robert Boyle 1627-91
Robert Hooke 1635-1703
Isaac Newton 1642-1727 (Classical Physics)
The Eighteenth Century (Newtonianism/The Enlightenment)
Gottfried W. Leibniz 1646-1716
George Berkeley 1684-1763
Francois Quesnay 1694-1774 (The Physiocratic School)
Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire 1694-1778
Julien Offray de La Mettrie 1709-1751
David Hume 1711-76
Jean Jacqew Rousseau 1712-1778
Claude Adrien Helvetius 1715-1771
Adam Smith 1723-1790 (The Classical School of Political Economy)
COURSE OUTLINE AND READING SCHEDULE
Dates Topic Reading Assignment
I. Introduction 9/15
A. Review Syllabus and Course Requirements
B. Overview of Course Content ........................................................................................ NC: Chap 1
II. A Mystery: The Rise of the West & the Modern World 15, 17, 22
A. Nature of the Problem ................................................................................................... NC: Chap. 1
B. An Overview of the Modern Theory of Economic Growth
C. The Limitations of Growth Theory and the Mystery Highlighted
D. Methodological Background
III. Ancient Greek Civilization 22, 24, 29, 10/1, 6, 8
A. The Greek Dark Age: 1,200 - 750 BC............................................................................ NC: Chap. 2.
B. Greek Recovery, Revolutions & Decline: 750 - 338 BC................................................... 1. - 4.
Quiz #1
C. Greek Political Economy & Economic History
D. The Rise of Philosophy & the Failure of the Greek Intellectual Tradition.
Quiz #2
IV. The Medieval World 13, 15, 20, 22, 27, 29
A. The Political Economy of the Medieval World................................................................. 5.; NC: Chs. 3 & 4, pp. 77-81
Quiz #3
C. The Medieval World and the Rise of Capitalism ............................................................. 6.; NC: Ch. 5
Quiz #4
V. The Rise of Modern Science & the 18th Century Enlightenment 11/3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19
A. Medieval Cosmology
B. The Critique of Aristotle ..................................................................... .......................... Video
C. The Scientific Revolution ................................................................................................. Handouts
D. The Newtonian World Machine and the New Sciences of Man ....................................... NC: Ch. 6; 7., 8
Quiz #5
E. Summary of Findings ....................................................................................................... 9.
F. The Achievement of Adam Smith...................................................................................... NC: Ch. 7; 10. - 12.
APPENDIX 1: Reading List
1. Chester G. Starr, "The Greeks Against the Persians," A History of the Ancient World (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), pp. 275-97.
2. Chester G. Starr, "Athenian Democracy and Imperialism," A History of the Ancient World, pp. 298-318.
3. Chester G. Starr, "Fifth-Century Civilization," A History of the Ancient World, pp. 319-38.
4. Chester G. Starr, "End of the Golden Age," A History of the Ancient World, pp. 339-56.
5. John Herman Randall, " The Embodiment-Lay Society," The Making of the Modern Mind, rev. ed. (Cambridge, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1940), pp. 82-106.
6. Robert L. Heilbroner, "The Economic Revolution," The Worldly Philosophers, 6th ed. (New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1986), pp. 18-41.
7. John Herman Randall, "The Newtonian World Machine," The Making of the Modern Mind, rev. ed., pp. 254-79.
8. M. L. Myers, "Philosophical Anticipations of Laissez-Faire," History of Political Economy, Vol. 4 (1972): 163-175.
9. William J. Bernstein, "When, Where, Whither." The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004), pp. 379-86
10. Adam Smith, "Essays on Philosophical Subjects," in the Early Writings of Adam Smith, ed. by J. Ralph Lindgren (Augustus M. Kelley, 1967), pp. 48, 49.
11. Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral
Sentiments, ed. by D. D. Raphael and A. L. Macfie (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1976), pp. 183-85.
12. Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature
and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, ed by Edwin Cannan (New York: The
Modern Library, 1937), pp. 420-23.
APPENDIX 2
Glossary
a posteriori: A process or theory of knowledge that seeks to know reality strictly from what is actually found in the world, that is, by the senses from experience.
a priori: A theory of knowledge that seeks to know reality independent of experience by reasoning from self- evident propositions.
Atheism: A system of thought which holds as one of its central tenets that there is no supernatural or supreme being.
Atomism: The doctrine or theory that reality is fundamentally material and consisting of simple and unchanging particles called atoms.
Axiology: One of the three branches of philosophy that deals with the study of values and ethical judgments, their truth and their justification.
Classical Liberalism: A political and economic theory or philosophy that emphasizes the freedom and essential goodness of the autonomous individual and a minimal role for government in society while relying heavily on the self regulating market.
Cosmology: A branch o metaphysics dealing with the nature and structure of the space-time relationships of the universe. Scientific cosmology deals with the same issues but with a scientific methodology.
Cosmogony: Having to do with the study of and theories regarding the origin of the universe.
Deduction: Generally, the process of inferring necessary conclusions about particulars by reasoning general or universal premises.
Deism: A system of though or world view according to which the universe was created by a wholly transcendent god who instituted immutable and universal laws that precluded any alteration and divine intervention, including revelation and miracles.
Determinism: The general philosophical thesis which states that for everything that ever happens there are causal conditions such that, given the conditions, nothing else could happen. When combined with materialism, these antecedent conditions are invariably physical.
Dialectics: As employed by the Greeks and the Medieval Scholastics, dialectic involved the use of logic and reasoning by discourse in order to refute the views of ones opponents by drawing unacceptable consequences from there premises.
Dualism: A theory that views reality as composed of two irreducible elements or controlled by two fundamentally opposed principles such as matter and spirit or matter and mind.
Economic Growth: An increase in the quantity of goods and services available in an economy relative to the population, i.e. output/capita
Empirical: Having to do with experience or observation alone.
Empiricism: A theory that all knowledge originates with experience independent of systems of thought or theory.
Epistemology: One of the three branches of philosophy having to do with the study and theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge.
Extensive margin of cultivation: The extension of cultivation to lower quality parcels of land due to population pressures on the food supply.
Hedonism: The ethical doctrine or way of life that views pleasure or happiness as the sole or highest good in life.
Historicism: The philosophy or theory that views relative historical events as the determinants of cultural values, institutions, and ideas, including those of historians and philosophers.
Idealism: The theory or philosophy that regards the mental or ideational as the key to the nature of reality. Diametrically opposed to materialism.
Immanentism: The theory or philosophy that all being, properties, and processes of reality (the universe) are the result and, therefore, can be explained by, causes and forces lying within the universe itself.
Individualism: The doctrine or theory that all values, rights and duties originate and are grounded in the individual.
Induction: The process of inferring a generalization from particular instances of a thing or event observed or experienced.
Inference: The mental act of passing from one proposition, statement, or judgment considered to be true to another whose truth is believed to follow from or be entailed in that of the former.
Intensive margin margin of cultivation: More intensive cultivation of existing parcels of land in order to increase output due to population pressures on the food supply.
Law of diminishing returns: The tendency for the rate of increase in output to decrease as more of one input is increased while holding other inputs constant.
Liberalism: A political and economic theory or philosophy that emphasizes the freedom of individuals but sees substantial inequalities of opportunity as an impediment to individuals participating in the competitive system. To rectify inequalities, liberals favor government programs rather than relying solely on the impersonal market.
Materialism: A theory or philosophy that physical matter is the only or fundamental reality and that all being, processes, and phenomena can be explained as manifestations or results of matter.
Metaphysics: One of the three branches of philosophy (also known as the First Philosophy, i.e., that which studies the highest or most general principles of that which exists) having to do with the fundamental nature of reality and being.
Naturalism: The theory or philosophy that contends that the fundamental constitution of reality is physical nature and that no supernatural or transcendent realm or being exists.
Natural Law: The theory that there exists a body of ideal law derived from nature that is morally binding upon human society in the absence or in addition to positive law. It is derived by reason.
Nominalism: The theory or philosophy that only individual things with their individual properties exist and no abstract entities (such as universals, classes, or propositions) exist.
Normative: Relating or conforming to, or prescribing norms or ethical standards. That which is regulative of human conduct.
Paradigm: A model or ideal theory from which phenomena are examined and understood.
Particular: An individual or a specific member of a class in contrast to the characteristics that describe the members of that class.
Pluralism: A theory or philosophy that contends that there is more than one kind of ultimate reality.
Positive science: A view of science as being objective and value free, empirical, and mathematically formulated, and employing the scientific method.
Positivism: A philosophy that contends that theology and metaphysics are earlier imperfect modes of knowledge and that positive knowledge is based on natural phenomena and their properties and relations as verified by the empirical sciences.
Production Possibility Frontier: The boundary between those combinations of goods and services that can be produced and those that cannot.
Productivity: Production per unit of a resource (usually labor) used in the production of goods and services, e.g.,. RGDP per capita.
Providence: Divine guidance or care of human affairs or destiny. Providence can be either specific (miracles) or general (Natural Law).
Rational: Having reason or understanding; based on or agreeable to reason.
Rationality: The quality or state of being rational or agreeable to reason.
Rationalism: A theory of knowledge that contends that reason is in itself a source of knowledge superior to and independent of sense perception or experience.
Rationalist: One who purports that all knowledge originates with reason.
Realism: In the Platonic sense the contention that universals exist outside the human mind. In the non-Platonic sense, the doctrine that objects of sense perception or cognition exist independent of the mind.
Reason: A rational ground or motive; a sufficient ground of explanation or a logical defense; something as a principle or law that supports a conclusion or explains a fact. More generally, a power of the intellect to seek and achieve its own universal truth.
Scarcity: The state in which the resources available are insufficient to satisfy people's wants.
Scholasticism: A philosophical movement dominant in Western civilization from the 9th until the 17th century and combining religious dogma with the philosophical principles first of Platonism or Neoplatonism and later with Aristotelianism.
Secularism: A theory or philosophy that denies the relevance of religious considerations to any and all facets of everyday life.
Theism: The belief system that contends as its central principle or tenet that a supernatural or supreme being exists.
Transcendence: The quality or state of exceeding or being beyond space (the material universe) and time (history).
Universal: A general concept or term that pertains to the whole or to all of a class such as "human" or "dog."
Utilitarianism: The ethical theory that contends that the aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
Worldview: A set of presuppositions (assumptions) which
may be true, partially true or entirely false which we hold
(consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently)
about the most basic make-up or our world. It is a unifying or
integrating basic principle or set of principles that permeates a
culture's thought and attitudes and is worked out or expressed in
every aspect of thought or life.
APPENDIX 3
Instructions for Preparation of the Term Paper
1. A typed copy of your paper is due on or before Nov 17, 2008.
2. Include a title page
3 Minimum length requirement: 10 double-spaced pages with 12-point font
4. Double spacing of entire text except for the bibliography where
each entry should be single spaced with double spacing between
bibliographical entries. In addition, extended, indented quoted
material should be single spaced.
5. Margins: 1 inch all around
6. Pagination: All pages starting from page 2 on must be numbered at the
top of the page.
7. Reference Citations:
a. When you use material from a source, cite the source in the following format:
During the latter years of the eighteenth
century, grain prices in England quadrupled. (Heilbroner, 79, 80)
Alphabetically listed in your bibliography
should be the reference in the following format:
Heilbroner, Robert L. 1986. The Worldly Philosophers. 6th ed. New York:Simon & Schuster.
b. If your bibliography includes more than one work by the same author, then you must indicate the date of the source in the body of the text, such as
(Smith 1937, p. 62)
c. Any material which is a direct quote from a reference must be enclosed in quotation marks and the source cited as illustrated above. Plagiarism constitutes academic dishonesty at CSUB. See the College Catalog for a statement of the University policy on Plagiarism.
d. Quoted material of more than one sentence should be set apart from the body of the paper, indented, and single space. In this instance, quotation marks are not used. Of course, the source must be cited as illustrated above.
8. End your paper with a conclusion section.
9. No cover on your paper please! Include a cover sheet with your paper
title and your name and staple the entire paper in the upper left-hand corner.