“上帝之手”如何影响“看不见的手”——牛顿体系对斯密经济学思想的影响初探

How "the God's Hand" Influences "the Invisible Hand" : An Exploration and Analysis of the Influence of Newton's System on Adam Smith

18世纪及其以后自然科学的发展,深受牛顿发现的影响。虽然牛顿的宇宙观和宗教思想,对后世科学的形成和道德的影响尚有争议,但不可否认牛顿的思想体系和思维方式已经而且继续应用在智力活动中。在作为社会科学的经济学中,亚当·斯密所建立的自发秩序体系(看不见的手),促成了社会科学的理论化。通读斯密相关文献,我们确信被奉为经济学鼻祖的亚当·斯密,不仅熟悉牛顿的哲学思想,并且尝试把牛顿的自然科学思维应用到人文社会科学领域中。因此,从"牛顿的体系"来对照亚当·斯密根据理性自利为基点构建的经济学理论体系,将其视为根据一种抽象的社会法则来解释复杂社会秩序的尝试,是合理的。本文从牛顿的哲学思维、研究方法方面剖析了其对斯密所做研究和探索的深刻影响。

The development of science from 18th century has been influenced profoundly by Newton＇s discoveries. Although the influence of cosmology and religions of Newton on subsequent science and ethical is still under discussion, it is no wonder that the ideological system and mode of thinking of Newton are widely applied in all intelligent domains. For Economics as a branch of social science, the proper motion system （invisible hand） built by Adam Smith realized the theory of social science. Through his relative documents and correspondences, Adam Smith considered as the founder of economics was not only familiar with philosophical thoughts of Newton, but also tried to apply natural science thinking of Newton to his academic sectors. Thus, making a contrast between Newton＇s system and the economic theory built by Adam Smith based on origin of self-interest and regarding it as a try to explain the complicated social order by a kind of abstract social principle is reasonable. This study dissects the influence of thoughts and research methods of Newton on research of Adam Smith.