A Study Of Hume's View Of Economic Justice In Comparative Perspective

The British industrial revolution brought in a new era and changed the traditional economic model of Britain.With the development of capitalist economy,the bourgeoisie mounted on the historical stage.Under the specific historical background,D.Hume absorbed some ideas of economic justice from Plato and Aristotle in the ancient Greek,and inherited and developed the theory of social contract of Th.Hobbes and J.Locke,then established his unique view of economic justice with the core of property rights,which deeply influenced the UK at that time.Hume's contemporaries A.Smith,J.Bentham and J.S.Mill also expounded the conception of economic justice.On the one hand,Hume shares some similarities with Smith and Bentham in their views of economic justice.On the other hand,there are huge differences between them.On the basis and premise of economic justice,Smith,like Hume,argues that human nature is selfish,but human beings are also compassionate.The difference between them is that Hume thinks that justice and benevolence are artificial virtues,whereas Smith thinks that justice and benevolence are both natural virtues.About the laws of economic justice,Hume and Smith both pay attention to the problem of property rights,but they have different emphasis.Hume pays more attention to property possession,while Smith more to property distribution.As to the relationship between government and economic justice,the biggest difference between the two philosophers is that Hume advocates government's intervention in the economy,while Smith believes that government should only act as the "nightwatcher" of the market and should not intervene in economic activities.Compared with Hume,Bentham's view of economic justice is more utilitarian.Bentham does not explicitly discuss the issue of economic justice in his works,but we can still trace out his view of economic justice in his thought system.On the premise and basis of economic justice,Bentham,like Hume,believes that human nature is selfish and that justice is an artificial virtue.In addition,there is already the sprout of utilitarianism in Hume's thoughts,and Bentham founded utilitarianism,and clearly put forward the view that justice is consistent with utility.Hume and Bentham were both consequentialists on the fundamental laws of economic justice.But Bentham proposed a new principle of distributive justice,the principle of the greatest happiness for the greatest number.On the relationship between government and justice,they hold different views about whether the government should intervene properlyin the economy.Hume thinks the government should intervene in the economy,but Bentham stands against this.Mill developed his own ideas on the basis of Bentham's utilitarianism.On the property issue,mill paid attention to the relationship between taxation and economic justice,but basically agreed with Bentham on the relationship between government and economic disputes.With the help of the comparison with Smith,Bentham and Mill,people can have a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Hume's view of economic justice,including its significance and limitations.The issue of economic justice has attracted much attention in today's China.To realize economic justice is the realistic requirement of China's scientific development,and also the indispensable connotation of the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.Hume's view of economic justice can be used for reference in a few aspects for the establishment and improvement of socialist market economy in today's China.