Adam Smith on Education, Inequality, and Class Division in Commercial Society

Adam Smith was conscious of flaws inherent to commercial society and the need for government intervention to address negative externalities and market failures. Nevertheless, scholars disagree on the character and depth of Smith’s criticisms of commercial society and his prescriptions for addressing its limitations. Several interpreters, for example, cite Smith’s endorsement of state-funded parish schools as evidence of his concern for issues of inequality and distributive justice. In this view, Smith intends not only to rectify the cognitive effects of the division of labor but also to bridge class divides by promoting more equal outcomes in intellectual and moral development. As I argue, this interpretation exaggerates the egalitarian aims of Smith’s proposal. On the whole, previous treatments of Smith’s educational thought have neglected the category of class and, in particular, the deep class-based inequalities in his educational prescriptions. This article foregrounds a tension in Smith’s thought between his concern for the influence of inequality on moral sentiments and his acceptance of class divisions that limit the egalitarian character of his proposal. By accepting these divisions, Smith’s proposal, despite its positive outcomes, does not address the sympathetic gap between classes that he himself identifies as a source of “corruption.” A class-sensitive reading of Smith’s educational thought reveals the complexity of his understanding of commercial society, its promises and pitfalls, and the extent to which policy can, and ought to, address certain forms of inequality. On a broader level, this article highlights the importance of class as a category of analysis in interpretations of Smith’s work.