This paper examines James Steuart’s explanation of the emergence of commercial nations. Unlike other Scottish thinkers of the time, Steuart argues that artifice is necessary for the rise of commercial societies. He uses the term “artificial” to refer to a devised process, one that is an alternative to the supposedly natural process arising from innate propensities. The system of trade and commerce is an “artifice” created by merchants to obtain benefits, and established by the sovereign for his ostentation and personal prestige, until it became generalized as a commercial nation. Steuart’s explanation of the emergence of commercial nations accounts for how individuals become dependent on and subordinate to the public market. This paper concludes that Steuart’s Political Œconomy promotes a science of the artificial that seeks to understand the functioning of non-natural mechanisms and to create instruments that the statesman adapts to the needs and objectives of individuals.

中文翻译：

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詹姆斯·斯图尔特爵士谈商业国家的起源

本文考察了詹姆斯·斯图亚特对商业国家出现的解释。与当时的其他苏格兰思想家不同，斯图尔特认为，技巧对于商业社会的兴起是必要的。他使用“人工”一词来指代一种设计的过程，它可以替代由先天倾向引起的所谓自然过程。通商制度是商人为谋取利益而创造的“伎俩”，是君主为了炫耀和个人威信而建立的，直至普遍化为商业国家。斯图亚特对商业国家出现的解释说明了个人如何依赖和服从公共市场。本文的结论是，斯图亚特的政治经济促进人工科学，旨在了解非自然机制的功能并创造政治家适应个人需求和目标的工具.