Adam Smiths Lectures on Jurisprudence Essay -- Economics Lectures Jur

Adam Smiths Lectures on JurisprudenceAdam Smith, in his Lectures of Jurisprudence, makes an argument for the necessity of union through biological mechanisms. While superficially similar, his arguments seem to resist greatly from the modern notion of how labor is distributed within the household. Instead of examining the comparative advantages in production between the husband and the wife, Smith seems to focus on the sizeableness of lineage and, more specifically, inheritance.The foundation of Smiths argument for the necessity of marriage is rooted in children. He begins with examples contrary to the human experience. He finds that in mammals, since the support of the young is no burthen to the female any further relation is seen as unnecessary (Smith 438). Birds, however, some such thing as marriage seems to take place (438). He quickly counters with but whenever the young can shift for themselves all further inclination ceases (438). The essential piece of this argument hither is the demands made on the parent by the child. According to his argument, th...