"The first, or theoretic branch, that which explains the nature, production, and distribution of wealth, will be found to rest on a very few general propositions, which are the result of observation, or consciousness"
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Economics, Senior insists, can be built like Euclid: a clean “theoretic branch” resting on “a very few general propositions.” That’s not just methodological confidence; it’s a power move. By framing the foundations of wealth as the “result of observation, or consciousness,” he’s smuggling in an epistemology that treats economic law as something you can simply notice in the world or feel as self-evident in the mind. The subtext is a bid for authority: if the premises are obvious to any reasonable observer, then disagreement starts to look like ignorance, sentimentality, or political meddling.
Placed in early- to mid-19th-century Britain, the line reads like a defense of classical political economy as it tries to professionalize itself amid industrial turbulence, labor agitation, and the moral panic of reform. Senior is carving out “theory” as a distinct domain that can stand above the day’s quarrels, even when those quarrels are about wages, poverty, and the legitimacy of profit. He’s also drawing a boundary between explanation and prescription: first establish the “nature, production, and distribution of wealth,” then, implicitly, let policy follow. Conveniently, that ordering can delay ethical debate by treating it as secondary.
What makes the sentence work is its calm, almost clinical compression. “Very few” flatters the reader with the promise of mastery; “general propositions” sounds neutral, but it quietly elevates abstraction over lived complexity. Senior’s intent isn’t merely to describe economics. It’s to license it as a science whose conclusions deserve deference, precisely when its conclusions will be most contested.
Placed in early- to mid-19th-century Britain, the line reads like a defense of classical political economy as it tries to professionalize itself amid industrial turbulence, labor agitation, and the moral panic of reform. Senior is carving out “theory” as a distinct domain that can stand above the day’s quarrels, even when those quarrels are about wages, poverty, and the legitimacy of profit. He’s also drawing a boundary between explanation and prescription: first establish the “nature, production, and distribution of wealth,” then, implicitly, let policy follow. Conveniently, that ordering can delay ethical debate by treating it as secondary.
What makes the sentence work is its calm, almost clinical compression. “Very few” flatters the reader with the promise of mastery; “general propositions” sounds neutral, but it quietly elevates abstraction over lived complexity. Senior’s intent isn’t merely to describe economics. It’s to license it as a science whose conclusions deserve deference, precisely when its conclusions will be most contested.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wealth |
|---|---|
| Source | Nassau William Senior, An Outline of the Science of Political Economy (1836) — introductory chapter: Senior's definition of the 'theoretic branch' explaining the nature, production, and distribution of wealth. |
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