In Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith starts his chapter on the ‘origin of money,’ as follows: Where the division of labour has been once thoroughly established, it is but a very small part of a man's wants which the produce of his own labour can supply. He supplies the far greater part of them by exchanging that surplus part of the produce of his own labour, which is over and above his own consumption, for such parts of the produce of other men's labour as he has occasion for. Every man thus lives by exchanging, or becomes in some measure a merchant, and the society itself grows to be what is properly a commercial society. (WN 1.4.1, p. 37)
Constant's essay must just about mark the end of Ancients vs Moderns as a set piece. I guess it must have been some time in C17 that (some) Moderns started to think of themselves as having surpassed the Ancients, rather than thinking of a lost golden age. Doubtless you will have a more accurate read on this.
Constant's essay must just about mark the end of Ancients vs Moderns as a set piece. I guess it must have been some time in C17 that (some) Moderns started to think of themselves as having surpassed the Ancients, rather than thinking of a lost golden age. Doubtless you will have a more accurate read on this.