The Great Chessboard, by Adam Smith

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THE man of system, on the contrary, is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamoured with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government, that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it.

He goes on to establish it completely and in all its parts, without any regard either to the great interests, or to the strong prejudices which may oppose it. He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess-board.

He does not consider that in the great chess-board of human society, every single piece has a principle of motion of its own, altogether different from that which the legislature might choose to impress upon it.

by Adam Smith 1723-1790

From ‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’ VI 2.2 by Adam Smith (1723-1790).

Précis

The man of system, Smith went on, enforces his vision upon society as if playing a game of chess with dumb and unfeeling pieces. But the pawns and knights on society’s chessboard are awake and will stubbornly execute their own strategy, warned Smith, one which the politician should not arrogantly assume is inferior to his own.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Précis

Questions for Critics

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