The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks, Or, An Inquiry Into the Circumstances which Give Rise to Influence and Authority, in the Different Members of Society

Book excerpt: This is one of the major products of the Scottish Enlightenment and a masterpiece of jurisprudence and social theory. Building on David Hume, Adam Smith, and their respective natural histories of man, John Millar developed a progressive account of the nature of authority in society by analysing changes in subsistence, agriculture, arts, and manufacture. 'The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks' is perhaps the most precise and compact development of the abiding themes of the liberal wing of the Scottish Enlightenment. Drawing on Smith's four-stages theory of history and the natural law's traditional division of domestic duties into those toward servants, children, and women, Millar provides a rich historical analysis of the ways in which progressive economic change transforms the nature of authority. In particular, he argues that, with the progress of arts and manufacture, authority tends to become less violent and concentrated, and ranks tend to diversify.