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les economistes, but it is more convenient, because unambiguous, to designate them by the name physiocrates (Gr. ckiacs, nature, and IcpareIP, to See also:

RULE

rule), invented by P. S. See also:

DUPONT, PIERRE (1821-1870)

Dupont de See also:

Nemours (1739-1817), who was one of their number. In this name, intended to See also:

EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express the fundamental See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of the school, much more is implied than the subjection of the phenomena of the social, and in particular the economic, See also:

WORLD

world to fixed relations of coexistence and See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession. This is the See also:

POSITIVE (or PORTABLE) ORGAN

positive See also:

DOCTRINE

doctrine which lies at the bottom of all true See also:

SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

science. But the See also:

law of nature referred to in the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of the See also:

SECT

sect was something quite different.

The theological See also:

DOGMA (Gr. Sbypa, from b6aeiv, to seem; literally " that which seems, sc. good or true or useful " to any one)

dogma which represented all the movements of the universe as directed by divine See also:

WISDOM, BOOK OF, or WISDOM OF SOLOMON (Sept. Io4ia IaXwµwvos; Lat. Vulg. Liber sapientiae)

wisdom and benevolence to the See also:

PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production of the greatest possible sum of happiness had been transformed in the hands of the metaphysicians into the conception of a See also:

jus naturae, a harmonious and beneficial See also:

CODE (Lat. codex)

code established by the favourite entity of these thinkers, nature, antecedent to human institutions, and furnishing the See also:

MODEL (0. Fr. modelle, mod. modele; It. modello, pattern, mould; from Lat. modus, measure, standard)

model to which they should be made to conform. The general political doctrine is as follows: Society is composed of a number of individuals, all having the same natural rights. If all do not possess (as some members of the negative school maintained) equal capacities, each can at least best understand his own See also:

INTEREST

interest, and is led by nature to follow it. The social See also:

union is really a See also:

contract between these individuals, the See also:

OBJECT

object of which is the See also:

LIMITATION, STATUTES OF

limitation of the natural freedom of each just so far as it is inconsistent with the rights of the others. See also:

Government, though necessary, is a necessary evil; and the governing See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power appointed by consent should be limited to the amount of interference absolutely required to secure the fulfilment of the contract. In the economic See also:

SPHERE (Gr. vclsa?pa, a ball or globe)

sphere this implies the right of the individual to such natural enjoyments as he can acquire by his labour. That labour, therefore, should be undisturbed and unfettered, and its fruits should be guaranteed to the possessor; in other words, See also:

PROPERTY

property should be sacred. Each See also:

CITIZEN (a form corrupted in Eng., apparently by analogy with " denizen," from O. Fr. citeain, mod. Fr. citoyen)

citizen must be allowed to make the most of his labour; and there-fore freedom of See also:

EXCHANGE

exchange should be ensured, and competition in the See also:

MARKET (Lat. mercatus, trade or place of trade)

market should be unrestricted, no monopolies or privileges being permitted to exist. The physiocrats then proceed with the economic See also:

ANALYSIS (Gr. avci and Meta, to break up into parts)

analysis as follows: Only those labours are truly " productive " which add to the quantity of raw materials available for the purposes of See also:

man; and the real See also:

ANNUAL

annual addition to the See also:

WEALTH

wealth of the community consists of the excess of the See also:

mass of agricultural products (including, of course, metals) over their cost of production. On the amount of this produit See also:

net depends the well-being of the community and the possibility of its advance in See also:

CIVILIZATION

civilization. The manufacturer merely gives a new form to the materials extracted from the See also:

earth; the higher value of the object, after it has passed through his hands, only represents the quantity of provisions and other materials used and consumed in its elaboration. Commerce does nothing more than See also:

TRANSFER (from Lat. transferre, to bear across, carry over)

transfer the wealth already existing from one See also:

hand to another; what the trading classes gain thereby is acquired at the cost of the nation, and it is desirable that its amount should be as small as possible.

The occupations of the manufacturer and merchant, as well as the liberal professions, and every See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of See also:

PERSONAL

personal service, are " useful " indeed, but they are " sterile," See also:

DRAWING

drawing their income, not from any fund which they themselves create, but from the superfluous earnings of the agriculturist. The See also:

revenue of the See also:

state, which must be derived altogether from this net product, ought to be raised in the most See also:

DIRECT

direct and simplest way—namely, by a single See also:

IMPOST (through the O. Fr. from Lat. impositum, a thing laid upon another; the modern French is impot)

impost of the nature of a See also:

LAND

land tax. The See also:

SPECIAL

special doctrine See also:

RELATING

relating to the exclusive productiveness of See also:

agriculture arose out of a confusion between " value " on the one hand and " See also:

MATTER

matter and See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy " on the. other. A. See also:

Smith and others have shown that the See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to See also:

FIX, THEODORE (180o-1846)

fix the See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of " sterility " on manufactures and commerce was founded in See also:

ERROR (Lat. error, from errare, to wander, to err)

error. And the proposal of a single impot territorial falls to the ground with the doctrine on which it was based. But such See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence as the school exerted depended little, if at all, on thesepeculiar tenets, which indeed some of its members did not hold. The effective result of its teaching was mainly destructive. It continued in a more systematic form the efforts in favour of the freedom of See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry already begun in See also:

England and See also:

France. It was to be expected that the reformers should, in the spirit of the negative See also:

PHILOSOPHY (Gr. gthos, fond of, and vo4 (a, wisdom)

philosophy, exaggerate the vices of established systems; and there can be no doubt that they condemned too absolutely the economic action of the state, both in principle and in its historic manifestations, and pushed the laissez-faire doctrine beyond its just limits. But this was a necessary incident of their connexion with the revolutionary See also:

MOVEMENT

movement, of which they really formed one wing. In the course of that movement, the See also:

PRIMITIVE

primitive social contract, the See also:

SOVEREIGNTY

sovereignty of the See also:

PEOPLE

people and other dogmas now seen to be untenable, were habitually invoked in the region of politics proper, and had a transitory utility as ready and effective See also:

INSTRUMENTS

instruments of warfare.

And so also in the economic sphere the doctrines of natural rights of buying and selling, of the sufficiency of enlightened selfishness as a See also:

GUIDE (in Mid. Eng. gyde, from the Fr. guide; the earlier French form was guie, English " guy," the d was due to the Italian form guida; the ultimate origin is probably Teutonic, the word being connected with the base seen in O. Eng. witan, to know)

guide in mutual dealings, of the certainty that each member of the society will understand and follow his true interests, and of the coincidence of those interests with the public welfare, though they will not See also:

bear a dispassionate examination, were temporarily useful as convenient and serviceable weapons for the overthrow of the-established See also:

order. These conclusions as to the revolutionary tendencies of the school are not at all affected by the fact that the form of government preferred by Quesnay and some of his See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief followers was what they called a legal despotism, which should embrace within itself both the legislative and the executive See also:

FUNCTION

function. The See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason for this preference was that an enlightened central power could more promptly and efficaciously introduce the policy they advocated than an See also:

ASSEMBLY, UNLAWFUL

assembly representing divergent opinions and fettered by constitutional checks and limitations. See also:

TURGOT, ANNE ROBERT JACQUES, BARON DE

Turgot used the See also:

ABSOLUTE (Lat. absolvere, to loose, set free)

absolute power of the See also:

CROWN

Crown to carry into effect some of his See also:

MEASURES

measures for the liberation of industry, though he ultimately failed because unsustained by the requisite force of character in See also:

Louis XVI. But what the physiocratic idea with respect to the normal method of government was appears from Quesnay's See also:

ADVICE (Fr. avis, from Lat. ad, to, and visum, viewed)

advice to the dauphin, that when he became See also:

king he should do nothing, but let the See also:

LAWS

laws rule," the laws having been, of course, first brought into conformity with the jus naturae. The partiality of the school for agriculture was in See also:

HARMONY (Gr. dpµovia, a concord of musical sounds, dpA'ew to join; &plan midi (sc. TeXvil)

harmony with the sentiment in favour of " nature " and primitive simplicity which then showed itself in so many forms in France, especially in See also:

COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination with the revolutionary spirit, and of which See also:

Rousseau was the most eloquent exponent. The members of the physiocratic group were undoubtedly men of thorough uprightness, and inspired with a sincere See also:

DESIRE

desire for the public See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good, especially for the material and moral See also:

ELEVATION

elevation of the working classes. Quesnay was physician to Louis XV., and resided in the See also:

PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

palace at See also:

VERSAILLES

Versailles; but in the midst of that corrupt See also:

court he maintained his integrity, and spoke with manly frankness what he believed to be the truth. And never did any statesman devote himself with greater singleness of purpose or more See also:

EARNEST (probably a corruption of the obsolete arles or erles, adapted from Lat. equivalent arrha, due to a confusion with the adjective " earnest," serious, O. Eng. eornust, cognate with Ger. ernst)

earnest endeavour to the service of his See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country than Turgot, who was the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal practical representative of the school. The physiocratic school never obtained much direct popular influence, even in its native country, though it strongly attracted many of the more gifted and earnest minds. Its members, See also:

writing on dry subjects in an austere and often heavy See also:

style, did not find See also:

ACCEPTANCE (Lat. acceptare, frequentative form of accipere, to receive)

acceptance with a public which demanded before all things See also:

CHARM (through the Fr. from the Lat. carmen, a song)

charm of manner in those who addressed it. The physiocratic tenets, which were in fact partly erroneous, were regarded by many as chimerical, and were ridiculed in the contemporary literature; as, for example, the impot unique by See also:

VOLTAIRE, FRANCOIS MARIE AROUET DE (1694–1778)

Voltaire in his L'Homme aux quarante &us, which was directed in particular against P.

P. See also:

Mercier-Lariviere (1720-1794). It was justly objected to the group that they were tqo absolute in their view of things; they supposed, as Smith remarks in speaking of Quesnay, that the See also:

BODY

body politic could thrive only under one precise regime—that, namely, which they recommended—and thought their doctrines universally and immediately applicable in practice. They did not, as theorists, sufficiently take into See also:

account See also:

NATIONAL

national diversities or different stages in social development; nor did they, as politicians, adequately estimate the impediments which See also:

IGNORANCE (Lat. ignorantia, from ignorare, not to know); want of knowledge, a state of mind which in law has important consequences. A well-known legal maxim runs: ignorantia juris non excusat ("ignorance of the law does not excuse")

ignorance, See also:

PREJUDICE (Lat. praejudicium)

prejudice and interested opposition See also:

PRESENT

present to enlightened statesmanship. The physiocratic See also:

SYSTEM

system, after guiding in some degree the policy of the Constituent Assembly, and awakening a few echoes here and there in See also:

FOREIGN

foreign countries, soon ceased to exist as a living power; but the good elements it comprised were not lost to mankind, being incorporated into the more See also:

COMPLETE

complete construction of See also:

Adam Smith. See the See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article on QUESNAY, with bibliography appended thereto, also the articles on See also:

MIRABEAU and TURGOr. Most French histories contain an account of the school; see especially See also:

TOCQUEVILLE, ALEXIS HENRI CHARLES MAURICE CLEREL, COMTE DE (1805-18J9)

Tocqueville, L'Ancien regime et la revolution, ch. iii.; See also:

TAINE, HIPPOLYTE ADOLPHE (1828-1893)

Taine, Les Origines de la France contemporaine, vol. i.; R. Stourm, Les Finances de l'ancien regime et de la revolution (1885) ; See also:

Droz, Histoire du regne de Louis X VI.; also L. de Lavergne, Economistes See also:

FRANCAIS, ANTOINE, COUNT (1756-1836)

francais du X VIII° sibcle; H. Higgs, The Physiocrats (See also:

LONDON

London, 1897, with authorities).

End of Article: PHYSIOCRATIC SCHOOL

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