Lisa Hill

The hidden theology of Adam Smith

This paper contests late readings of Adam Smiths ‘invisible hand’ as an essentially secular device. It is argued that Smiths social and economic philosophy is inherently theological and that his entire model of social order is logically dependent on the notion of Gods action in nature. It will be shown that far from being a purely secular, materialist or evolutionist approach Smith works from the argument from design to construct a model that is teleological and securely located in the chain of being tradition. His focus upon happiness as the Final Cause of nature renders improbable any claims for proto-evolutionism in his work while his arguments about the deliberate endowment of defects in the human frame make no sense without the supposition of design and purpose in nature.

On the Reasonableness of Compelling Citizens to Vote: the Australian Case

The legitimacy of compelling citizens to vote is rarely explored beyond claims about partisan benefit or infractions of liberty and democratic freedom of choice. Using the Australian model as a particularly successful and well administered case, I explore more deeply the issue of whether the state imposed obligation to vote is a legitimate one. The problem is approached via a number of questions, among them: Does compulsion have any properties that make it superior to a voluntary system? Does compulsion place an undue burden on voters? Is voting in the interests of individuals? Does voting do any good? Is there an obligation to vote? And, if so, to whom is the obligation owed? I conclude that compulsion is reasonable because it yields collective (and ultimately individual) goods and protects a number of democratic, liberal and moral values. It is suggested that although there may be an obligation (but not a duty) to vote, this obligation is not owed to the state but rather to other citizens. An important effect of compulsory voting is its capacity to make voting a more ‘rational’ activity because it limits informational uncertainty and reduces opportunity costs. Compulsion removes most, if not all, the barriers to voting normally experienced by abstainers in voluntary systems. In doing so it releases or generates a variety of positive values, utilities and capabilities.

Low Voter Turnout in the United States Is Compulsory Voting a Viable Solution

America’s turnout problem is among the worst of any of the established democracies. Even a reform as sweeping as the NVRA (Motor Voter Act) has failed to remedy it. Adopting an empirically informed normative approach, the author proposes and defends an ambitious solution: compulsory voting. Anticipating considerable resistance to this proposal, the article explores likely cultural, practical, political and legal barriers to its introduction and, in some cases, suggests strategies for overcoming them. It is concluded that most of the likely impediments are not technically, but rather, culturally and politically intractable. Yet, compulsory voting could have many benefits. Not only could it improve turnout more effectively than any other measure, but it could also close America’s yawning SES voting gap, limit some of the problems associated with campaign finance and break the cycle of low efficacy, alienation, non-participation and exclusion that characterizes American politics. Finally, compulsory voting can serve and protect such important democratic values as representativeness, legitimacy and political equality.

Protest or Error? Informal Voting and Compulsory Voting

Some opponents of compulsory voting claim that rising rates of informal voting point to growing antipathy towards the institution. In order to test this claim we examine recent trends in informal voting, focusing upon some recent figures, particularly those of the 2004 Federal election when there was a sharp rise in informal votes. We suggest that it is not compulsion that is leading to informal voting but rather complexity and its interactions with sociological factors that are brought into play by near-universal turnout.

Anticipations of Nineteenth and Twentieth century social thought in the work of Adam Ferguson

This paper seeks to locate Adam Ferguson (17231816), a leading light of the Scottish Enlightenment, within a tradition. Fergusons work seems to straddle two traditions: classical civic humanism, on the one hand, and liberalism on the other. The claims of those scholars who have perceived in Fergusons work prescient anticipations of nineteenth and twentieth century social thought are of particular relevance here. It is the contention of this paper that although Fergusons work must be understood as classically and theologically inspired, there are, nevertheless, clear anticipations of modern social science in it. The dimensions of Fergusons work focussed on are: his historiography, his theories of spontaneous order, habit and conflict, and his anticipatory detection ot anomie and alienation effects. Fergusons unique contribution lays in his ability to give ancient insights a sociological twist thereby bridging the gap between modern and classical traditions.

Further reflections on the 'hidden theology' of Adam Smith

As I suggested in my paper, Smith’s explanation of the spontaneous social, moral and economic physics of commercial societies is best ‘understood as his particular contribution to eighteenth century theodicy’. What exactly does the term ‘theodicy’ denote? Theodicy is any attempt to reconcile a belief in an omnipotent, benign God with the apparent evils of life; in other words, it is an attempt to explain the puzzle: If God is good, why evil? An answer that diminishes any of [God’s] attributes is ‘rejected as heterodox’ (Waterman 2002: 916). On my interpretation Smith holds to the perfection of God and all his works. Every feature of the created universe, even its seemingly harsh and maladaptive aspects, are accommodated within such a framework. Everything exists for a reason and nothing in the universe is truly evil since all of creation performs some positive role in the benign master plan. The most famous Stoic, Marcus Aurelius, wrote that even ‘roguery’ and ‘impudence’ are ‘necessary to the world’ just as ‘sickness, death, slander, intrigue, and all the other things that delight or trouble foolish men. . .are normal’ (1964: IX. 42: 148; ibid. 4.44: 73). Smith endorses and applies to contemporary conditions the Stoic view that since ‘the world was governed by the allruling providence of a wise, powerful and good God, every single event ought

On friendship and necessitudo in Adam Smith

Adam Smith (1723–90) provided a novel and subtle account of the new social physics that emerged to accommodate the economic changes taking place in his time. This article explores Smith’s views on the effect of commercialization on friendship, and then questions one prominent interpretation of his approach, that of Allan Silver. Against the contested reading, we argue that the new ‘strangership’ described by Smith is not warm, but rather, cool-friendship enhancing. We suggest that Cicero’s treatment of friendship illuminates Smith’s views on this topic.

The Politics of Human Rights in Australia

Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction 1. Human rights 2. Protecting human rights 3. A bill of rights? 4. Electoral rights in Australia 5. The rights of indigenous Australians 6. Gender and sexuality rights 7. Refugees 8. Civil and political rights in an age of terror Endnotes Index.

Does compulsory voting violate a right not to vote

It is sometimes claimed that compulsory voting violates a particular right not to vote. For some, this assumed right is as fundamental as the right to vote. The existence of such a right, however, has attracted little sustained scholarly attention. This article explores from a political theory perspective whether the alleged ‘right not to vote’ is deserving the same legal and moral protection as the right to vote. I argue on two broad grounds that it is not. First, not all rights are capable of being legally waived and voting is one of them. Second, voting is a right but it is also a duty; it is a duty-right. Therefore, even though many people do fail to vote, doing so does not seem to constitute the exercise of any particular right, nor should it be legally recognised as such. 有人认为强制性投票侵犯了不投票的权利。对于很多人来说，不投票的权利跟投票的权利同等重要。不过这种权利却未得到学术界的持续关注。本文从政治学的角度探讨了所谓的“不投票权”是否应像投票权一样享有法律上和道德上的保护。笔者基于更宽泛的理由认为不应当。首先，并非所有权利都是可以在法律上免除的，投票权即是。其次，投票是权利，也是义务；是权利—义务。所以，尽管许多人没有投票，但这并不构成某种权利，法律上也不应被视作权利。

British international thinkers from Hobbes to Namier

The Glorious Sovereign: Thomas Hobbes on Leadership and International Relations H.Patapan John Lockes International Thought D.Armitage Moral Sentiment Theory and the International Thought of David Hume R.Jeffery War (and Peace) in Adam Smith L.Hill Edmund Burke and International Conflict R.Bourke John Stuart Mill and the Utilitarians G.Varouxakis The Resiliance of Natural Law in the Writings of Sir Travers Twiss A.Fitzmaurice James Bryce and the Two Faces of Nationalism C.Sylvest Democracy and Empire: J. A. Hobson, Leonard Hobhouse, and the Crisis of Liberalism D.Bell The Never Satisfied Idealism of Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson J.Morefield The Realist as Moralist: Sir Lewis Namiers International Thought I.Hall