The Bourgeois and the Savage: A Marxian Critique of the Image of the Isolated Individual in Defoe, Turgot and Smith (Marx, Engels, and Marxisms)

This classic text in Italian history of political philosophy, translated into English for the first time, investigates the philosophical and ideological conceptions hidden beneath the modern image of the isolated individual. In The Bourgeois and the Savage, Alfonso Maurizio Iacono reveals that this apparently simple and transparent image is imbued with a profound complexity containing human and social relationships, which are intertwined with relationships of power, domination, inequality, colonisation and servitude. As Karl Marx argued, and as was later confirmed by twentieth-century anthropology, the isolated individual does not stand at the beginning of history; he can emerge only where social relationships are already very developed and where society appears as a tool used for private purposes. Considering the writings of Daniel Defoe, the great French Enlightenment philosopher Turgot, and the father of political economy Adam Smith, The Bourgeois and the Savage critically analyses the process which led to the naturalisation of the image of the isolated man and traces its development and transformation into a still dominant paradigm.Alfonso Maurizio Iacono is Professor of History of Philosophy at the University of Pisa, Italy. He is the author of numerous books including Le Fétichisme: Histoire d’un Concept (1992), Autonomia, Potere, Minorità (2000), Caminhos de Saida do Estado de Menoridade (2001), The History and Theory of Fetishism (2016), and Studi su Karl Marx (2018). This classic text in Italian history of political philosophy, translated into English for the first time, investigates the philosophical and ideological conceptions hidden beneath the modern image of the isolated individual. In The Bourgeois and the Savage, Alfonso Maurizio Iacono reveals that this apparently simple and transparent image is imbued with a profound complexity containing human and social relationships, which are intertwined with relationships of power, domination, inequality, colonisation and servitude. As Karl Marx argued, and as was later confirmed by twentieth-century anthropology, the isolated individual does not stand at the beginning of history; he can emerge only where social relationships are already very developed and where society appears as a tool used for private purposes. Considering the writings of Daniel Defoe, the great French Enlightenment philosopher Turgot, and the father of political economy Adam Smith, The Bourgeois and the Savage critically analyses the process which led to the naturalisation of the image of the isolated man and traces its development and transformation into a still dominant paradigm. Alfonso Maurizio Iacono is Professor of History of Philosophy at the University of Pisa, Italy Titles Published 7 Titles Forthcoming 9 Acknowledgements 11 Contents 12 1 Introduction 14 Bibliography 27 2 Robinson Crusoe’s Adventure on the Island: From the Isolated Economy to Political Supremacy 28 2.1 The Problem Concerning Robinson’s Survival on the Island 28 2.2 Robinson’s Encounter with Friday 37 Bibliography 50 3 An Attempt to Explain the Theory of Value: Turgot’s Simplification 51 3.1 The Determination of Value and the Assessment of Individual Resources 51 3.2 The Concept of Progress: The Issue Related to Historical Circumstances 67 Bibliography 79 4 The ‘Rude State of Society’ and the Reason for Abundance: Adam Smith’s Model 80 4.1 ‘Common Stock’ as a Concept of Difference 80 4.2 ‘The Rude Stage of Society’ Like a Group of Isolated Individuals 98 4.3 Individuals and the Structure of Non-intentional Relationships 111 4.4 Conclusion 121 Bibliography 132 5 Political Philosophy on ‘The Gift’: Sahlins’s Interpretation 134 5.1 Sahlins’s Thesis 134 5.2 Mauss and Hobbes 136 5.3 Hobbes and Durkheim 138 5.4 Political Economy and Durkheim 140 5.5 Durkheim and Mauss 143 5.6 Final Comment 146 Bibliography 150 Author Index 151 Subject Index 154