The Principle Behind the Division of Labor

This division of labour, from which so many advantages are derived, is not originally the effect of any human wisdom, which foresees and intends that general opulence to which it gives occasion. It is the necessary, though very slow and gradual, consequence of a certain propensity in human nature, which has in view no such extensive utility; the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.

The division of labor brings many advantages. But it did not originally result from human wisdom that foresaw and intended the widespread prosperity it produces. Rather, it is the necessary, though very slow and gradual, result of a tendency in human nature. This tendency has no such broad benefit in view. It is the tendency to trade, barter, and exchange one thing for another.

Whether this propensity be one of those original principles in human nature, of which no further account can be given, or whether, as seems more probable, it be the necessary consequence of the faculties of reason and speech, it belongs not to our present subject to inquire. It is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals, which seem to know neither this nor any other species of contracts. Two greyhounds, in running down the same hare, have sometimes the appearance of acting in some sort of concert. Each turns her towards his companion, or endeavours to intercept her when his companion turns her towards himself. This, however, is not the effect of any contract, but of the accidental concurrence of their passions in the same object at that particular time. Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog. Nobody ever saw one animal, by its gestures and natural cries signify to another, this is mine, that yours; I am willing to give this for that. When an animal wants to obtain something either of a man, or of another animal, it has no other means of persuasion, but to gain the favour of those whose service it requires. A puppy fawns upon its dam, and a spaniel endeavours, by a thousand attractions, to engage the attention of its master who is at dinner, when it wants to be fed by him. Man sometimes uses the same arts with his brethren, and when he has no other means of engaging them to act according to his inclinations, endeavours by every servile and fawning attention to obtain their good will. He has not time, however, to do this upon every occasion. In civilized society he stands at all times in need of the co-operation and assistance of great multitudes, while his whole life is scarce sufficient to gain the friendship of a few persons. In almost every other race of animals, each individual, when it is grown up to maturity, is entirely independent, and in its natural state has occasion for the assistance of no other living creature. But man has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, and it is in vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and shew them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them. Whoever offers to another a bargain of any kind, proposes to do this. Give me that which I want, and you shall have this which you want, is the meaning of every such offer; and it is in this manner that we obtain from one another the far greater part of those good offices which we stand in need of. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages. Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens. Even a beggar does not depend upon it entirely. The charity of well-disposed people, indeed, supplies him with the whole fund of his subsistence. But though this principle ultimately provides him with all the necessaries of life which he has occasion for, it neither does nor can provide him with them as he has occasion for them. The greater part of his occasional wants are supplied in the same manner as those of other people, by treaty, by barter, and by purchase. With the money which one man gives him he purchases food. The old clothes which another bestows upon him he exchanges for other clothes which suit him better, or for lodging, or for food, or for money, with which he can buy either food, clothes, or lodging, as he has occasion.

Whether this tendency is a basic principle of human nature that cannot be explained further is not our present concern. It seems more likely to be a necessary result of our ability to reason and speak. The tendency is common to all people and is found in no other kind of animal. Animals seem to know nothing of this or any other kind of agreement. Two greyhounds chasing the same hare sometimes appear to be working together. Each turns the hare toward the other, or tries to intercept her when the other turns her back. But this is not the result of an agreement. It happens because both dogs happen to want the same thing at that moment. Nobody has ever seen one dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog. Nobody has ever seen an animal use gestures and natural cries to tell another: this is mine, that is yours. I am willing to give this for that. When an animal wants something from a person or another animal, it has only one way to persuade them. It must win the favor of the one whose service it needs. A puppy fawns on its mother. A spaniel that wants food from its master tries in countless ways to get his attention while he is eating. People sometimes use the same methods with one another. When they have no other way to get others to do what they want, they try to win their favor through every kind of fawning and servile attention. But a person does not have time to do this on every occasion. In civilized society, a person constantly needs the cooperation and help of great numbers of people. Yet a whole lifetime is hardly enough to win the friendship of a few. In almost every other kind of animal, each individual is entirely independent once it reaches maturity. In its natural state, it has no need for help from another living creature. But a person needs help from others almost constantly. It is useless to expect that help from their kindness alone. A person is more likely to succeed by appealing to their self-interest. They must be shown that it is to their own advantage to do what is asked of them. Anyone who offers another person a bargain is making such an appeal. Every offer means: give me what I want, and you shall have what you want. This is how we obtain most of the services we need from one another. We expect our dinner not from the kindness of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, but from their concern for their own interest. We appeal not to their humanity but to their self-interest. We never speak to them of our own needs, but of their advantages. Only a beggar chooses to depend chiefly on the kindness of fellow citizens. Even a beggar does not depend on it entirely. The charity of kind people does indeed provide all the resources a beggar lives on. But although charity ultimately supplies all the necessities a beggar needs, it neither does nor can supply them whenever they are needed. Most immediate needs are met in the same way as those of other people: through negotiation, barter, and purchase. With money given by one person, the beggar buys food. Old clothes given by another are exchanged for clothes that fit better, or for lodging, food, or money. With that money, the beggar can buy food, clothes, or lodging as needed.

As it is by treaty, by barter, and by purchase, that we obtain from one another the greater part of those mutual good offices which we stand in need of, so it is this same trucking disposition which originally gives occasion to the division of labour. In a tribe of hunters or shepherds, a particular person makes bows and arrows, for example, with more readiness and dexterity than any other. He frequently exchanges them for cattle or for venison, with his companions; and he finds at last that he can, in this manner, get more cattle and venison, than if he himself went to the field to catch them. From a regard to his own interest, therefore, the making of bows and arrows grows to be his chief business, and he becomes a sort of armourer. Another excels in making the frames and covers of their little huts or moveable houses. He is accustomed to be of use in this way to his neighbours, who reward him in the same manner with cattle and with venison, till at last he finds it his interest to dedicate himself entirely to this employment, and to become a sort of house-carpenter. In the same manner a third becomes a smith or a brazier; a fourth, a tanner or dresser of hides or skins, the principal part of the clothing of savages. And thus the certainty of being able to exchange all that surplus part of the produce of his own labour, which is over and above his own consumption, for such parts of the produce of other men’s labour as he may have occasion for, encourages every man to apply himself to a particular occupation, and to cultivate and bring to perfection whatever talent or genius he may possess for that particular species of business.

We get most of the help we need from one another through agreements, barter, and purchase. This same tendency to trade is what first gives rise to the division of labor. In a tribe of hunters or shepherds, one person, for example, makes bows and arrows more quickly and skillfully than anyone else. He often exchanges them with his companions for cattle or venison. Eventually, he finds that he can get more cattle and venison this way than by going out to catch them himself. His own interest therefore leads him to make bows and arrows as his main occupation. He becomes a kind of weapons maker. Another person excels at making the frames and covers of their small huts or movable houses. He regularly helps his neighbors in this way, and they reward him with cattle and venison. Eventually, he finds it in his interest to devote himself entirely to this work. He becomes a kind of house carpenter. In the same way, a third person becomes a blacksmith or a maker of brass goods. A fourth becomes a tanner or prepares hides and skins, the main materials used for clothing by savages. Each person can be sure of exchanging everything he produces beyond his own needs for whatever he needs from others. This certainty encourages everyone to take up a particular occupation. It also encourages each person to develop and perfect whatever talent he may have for that kind of work.

The difference of natural talents in different men, is, in reality, much less than we are aware of; and the very different genius which appears to distinguish men of different professions, when grown up to maturity, is not upon many occasions so much the cause, as the effect of the division of labour. The difference between the most dissimilar characters, between a philosopher and a common street porter, for example, seems to arise not so much from nature, as from habit, custom, and education. When they came in to the world, and for the first six or eight years of their existence, they were, perhaps, very much alike, and neither their parents nor play-fellows could perceive any remarkable difference. About that age, or soon after, they come to be employed in very different occupations. The difference of talents comes then to be taken notice of, and widens by degrees, till at last the vanity of the philosopher is willing to acknowledge scarce any resemblance. But without the disposition to truck, barter, and exchange, every man must have procured to himself every necessary and conveniency of life which he wanted. All must have had the same duties to perform, and the same work to do, and there could have been no such difference of employment as could alone give occasion to any great difference of talents.

The difference in natural talents among people is actually much smaller than we realize. Adults in different professions appear to have very different abilities. But in many cases, these differences are more the result of the division of labor than its cause. Consider the difference between two very different people, a philosopher and an ordinary street porter. It seems to arise less from nature than from habit, custom, and education. At birth and for their first six or eight years, they were perhaps very much alike. Neither their parents nor their playmates could see any remarkable difference between them. At about that age, or soon after, they begin to work at very different occupations. Differences in their talents then begin to attract notice and gradually grow wider. At last, the philosopher becomes too vain to admit that they are much alike at all. But without the tendency to trade, barter, and exchange, everyone would have had to provide for their own needs and comforts. All would have had the same duties to perform and the same work to do. There could have been no differences in occupation of the kind that alone can give rise to great differences in talents.

As it is this disposition which forms that difference of talents, so remarkable among men of different professions, so it is this same disposition which renders that difference useful. Many tribes of animals, acknowledged to be all of the same species, derive from nature a much more remarkable distinction of genius, than what, antecedent to custom and education, appears to take place among men. By nature a philosopher is not in genius and disposition half so different from a street porter, as a mastiff is from a grey-hound, or a grey-hound from a spaniel, or this last from a shepherd’s dog. Those different tribes of animals, however, though all of the same species are of scarce any use to one another. The strength of the mastiff is not in the least supported either by the swiftness of the greyhound, or by the sagacity of the spaniel, or by the docility of the shepherd’s dog. The effects of those different geniuses and talents, for want of the power or disposition to barter and exchange, cannot be brought into a common stock, and do not in the least contribute to the better accommodation and conveniency of the species. Each animal is still obliged to support and defend itself, separately and independently, and derives no sort of advantage from that variety of talents with which nature has distinguished its fellows. Among men, on the contrary, the most dissimilar geniuses are of use to one another; the different produces of their respective talents, by the general disposition to truck, barter, and exchange, being brought, as it were, into a common stock, where every man may purchase whatever part of the produce of other men’s talents he has occasion for.

This tendency creates the striking differences in talent among people in different professions. It also makes those differences useful. Many groups of animals belonging to the same species differ much more in their natural abilities than humans do before custom and education shape them. By nature, a philosopher differs less in ability and disposition from a street porter than a mastiff differs from a greyhound. The same is true of a greyhound and a spaniel, or a spaniel and a sheepdog. Yet these different groups of animals, though they belong to the same species, are of hardly any use to one another. The mastiff’s strength gains no support from the greyhound’s speed, the spaniel’s intelligence, or the sheepdog’s obedience. Animals lack the ability or inclination to barter and exchange. So the results of their different abilities and talents cannot be pooled. They contribute nothing to the comfort and convenience of the species as a whole. Each animal must still support and defend itself, separately and independently. It gains no advantage from the different talents nature has given its fellows. Among humans, by contrast, people with the most different abilities are useful to one another. Because people generally tend to trade, barter, and exchange, the products of their different talents are brought together, as if into a common stock. From this stock, everyone can buy whatever they need of what others’ talents have produced.