Classical Theory Of Turgot Essay Research Paper

Classical Theory Of Turgot Essay, Research Paper

Nancee

Sociology 3000

M-W-F 12:20-1:18

Final Outline

Classical Theory of Turgot

I. Introduction

A. Setting the scene-Turgot as Minister of Finance in France

B. Who was Turgot. What was his biographical background. What year was he born.

II. Body

A. Turgot.s background

1. Society as a moving organism

2. Turgot as a classical liberal

3. Turgot abandoned his career in the church for civil service

B. Turgot.s Education

1. College Louis-le-Grand

2. College du Plessis

3. Seminary of Saint Sulpice

C. Turgot.s most famous writing

1. Reflexions sur la formation et la distribution des richesses

D. Turgot.s influences

1. Comte buys in to Turgot.s theory of society as a moving organism-connected in parts

2. Condorcet and Smith are influenced by Turgot

E. Turgot.s reform ideas

1. Turgot was a thinker and a theorist

2. Turgot loses his popularity

3. Turgot proposes taxation of landowners

4. Turgot.s finance revolution fails

F. Early Europe and Turgot

1. Inequality and corruption were in government and society

2. Social and economic inequalities

3. Advocates become vocal during the reign of Louis XVI

III. Conclusion

A. Turgot Retires

1. Opposition includes all privileged groups as well as the queen

2. Turgot refuses a pension and retires to a life of scientific, historical, and literary study

“Each individual is the only competent judge of the most advantageous use of his lands and of his labor.” -Turgot

It was 1774, and decades of expensive and ill-advised government ventures left the regime of Louis the XVI fiscally extended and swaying, once again, on the edge of bankruptcy. Thus was the situation when Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, the baron

de l’ Aulne, was appointed France’s Minister of Finance.

A.R.J. Turgot was born in Paris on May 10, 1727, to a distinguished Norman family which had served as important royal officials. The Turgot family had long been famous, but their early history is somewhat obscure. One story is they were of Scandinavian origin and another account is that the family was originally from Scotland. Either way he came from a well-to-do, upper class, white family. He died at the age of fifty-four years old, of gout, the family disease (Columbia Encyclopedia 1993).

TURGOT’S BACKGROUND

Turgot wrote a number of works. He began with .The Barmecides, a tragedy. and ends with .On Luxury, political reflections.; and in between these are forty-eight others, including works on universal history, the origin of languages, love and marriage, political geography, natural theology, morality, economics, and many more (Meek 1973). Not many of Turgot.s writings were published during his lifetime. Most showed up in periodicals and letters.

.The whole human race, through alternate periods of

rest and unrest, of weal and woe, goes on advancing,

although at a slow pace, towards greater perfection.. -Turgot

Turgot.s idea that society proceeds naturally and successively was destined to be of great importance, not only for his own works but for the emergence and development of social science in the eighteenth century. It is possible that Turgot got some of these ideas from Montesquieu but it is Turgot who refined them. Turgot viewed society as a slow moving organism. Society moves and changes in an evolutionary pattern. It is like a biological organism. He also felt society moves from a simple form to a more complex form. An example of this would be farming for food to eventually industrialization of food. Each stage or part of society, Turgot felt, is connected to the next stage or part.

In Turgot.s famous Philosophical Review of the Successive Advances of the Human Mind, Turgot sets out to show how the doctrines of Christianity have helped to temper passions, to perfect governments, and to make men better and happier. Turgot was a Classical Liberal. He believed that liberty is a man’s highest political end, and that religious faith, a free-market economy, and limited government were essential. He believed mankind was heading towards great perfection. He was very concerned with the onward march of mankind (Andreski 1971).

Turgot was initially educated for a career in the Church. Turgot abandoned his career in the church for the Civil Service. He was expected to enter the clergy, but instead felt he was called to government service. He was appointed Administrator of Limoges and later, Secretary of State for the Navy. For a short time, he was also Controller of Finance to the King of France (Meek 1973).

TURGOT.S EDUCATION

Turgot was sent to school in Paris in the College Louis-le-Grand, and a rather nice story is told of him there. His pocket-money always seemed to disappear very rapidly, and after investigation it turned out that he spent it all helping the poorer day boys buy their books for classes, which they themselves could not afford. He later attended the College du Plessis, and eventually passed on to the Seminary of Saint Sulpice for his more theological training (Lodge 1931

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