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Handbook of the History of Economic Thought pp 137–159Cite as

The Physiocrats

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Part of the book series: The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences ((EHES,volume 11))

Abstract

The physiocrats, a group of economists whose period of greatest activity was between 1756 and 1774, the year of the death of François Quesnay, master of the group, had a short life as a school. The birth of the school can be traced to the meeting of the two founders, François Quesnay and the Marquis de Mirabeau, in July 1757. But 2 years before, in 1755, an event of the greatest importance had taken place: the publishing, some 25 years after its writing, of the masterwork of Richard Cantillon Essai sur la nature du commerce en général. Cantillon’s work has been defined as the first complete treatise on political economy, but it also contributed to the birth of physiocracy, the first school. So our history must begin with this contribution.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the eighteenth century plagiarism was not condemned as it is today. It was possible to quote other authors at length, without mentioning the source, and without a sense of transgressing the norms. Like Pierre Menard, Borges’ “author” of the Quijote, they wanted to say the same thing, so they used the same words.

  2. 2.

    A biography of Quesnay can be found in François Quesnay (1958), by Jacqueline Hecht. Hecht’s book contains all Quesnay’s known works at that time, and my references to the originals are taken from it.

  3. 3.

    The use of the term sect is standard. Weulersse (1968) uses the term party, and others, as Schumpeter (1954), prefer school.

  4. 4.

    This statement by Le Trosne will serve as an example: “Sans se concerter, sans se connaître, ils se sont trouvés parfaitement d’accord dans leur principes et leur logique, aucun d’eux n’a desavoué ses compagnons d’armes, et n’a rien avancé qui ne soit avoué de tous”: a perfect definition of a sect.

  5. 5.

    This sensualism is explained by Quesnay in these terms: “Les Sensations sont les motifs ou causes déterminantes de la raison et de la volonté décisive”. The sensualist components may be seen in Steiner (1998) pp. 30 and ff.

  6. 6.

    A session of the ESHET 1999 annual meeting was dedicated to this subject, with papers by, Eltis and Eltis (1999) and Cartelier (1999). The book, edited by Gino Longhitano, will be published shortly. A demonstration of Quesnay’s “constitutional” vision that Eltis mentions can be seen in a conversation between Quesnay and the Dauphin, the future King Louis XVI, referred in Higgs (1968) p. 45. The Traité has seldom been studied before, an exception being Fox-Genovese (1976).

  7. 7.

    An apparent contradiction arises if we observe that the “modern” system, the three-field system, dates from Charlemagne’s time, and became general in the twelfth to thirteenth centuries: it does not seem to be so modern. For an explanation, see Argemí (1994). A more general discussion in Mulliez (1975).

  8. 8.

    François Quesnay (1958), p. 462. According to Perrot (1992) its origin may be found in Duhamel (1750). vol V. p. 158.

  9. 9.

    François Quesnay (1958). p. 472.

  10. 10.

    For the relations between the different concepts of valeur and prix in Quesnay’s works, see Vaggi (1987).

  11. 11.

    François Quesnay (1958). p. 525 as an example.

  12. 12.

    See François Quesnay (1958), “Sur les travaux des artisans” p. 885 and ff.

  13. 13.

    François Quesnay (1958) p. 582.

  14. 14.

    Foley (1973). The best descriptions may be found in Eltis (1975, 1996) and Herlitz (1996). The English picture is taken from Eltis (1975).

  15. 15.

    This interpretation, perhaps the simplest, is taken from Tsuru (1942), but simplified.

  16. 16.

    This fact was pointed out by Meek (1962), Chap. 2.

  17. 17.

    As in some other concepts used in this article, the idea of liberalism appears elsewhere, but for the sake of consistency we ascribe it to the Tableau.

  18. 18.

    The study of disequilibrium was made in the Philosophie Rurale (1764).

  19. 19.

    Beer (1939).

  20. 20.

    Marx (1963) p. 50.

  21. 21.

    Ware (1931).

  22. 22.

    McNally (1988).

  23. 23.

    Longhitano (1994).

  24. 24.

    Pocock (1975), Chap. XIII.

  25. 25.

    In his entry for “Agronomie”, Rozier (1787) defined an Agronome as someone who wrote on subjects of political economy.

  26. 26.

    Steiner (1998) studies the different definitions in the first chapter, p. 10 and ff. Of special interest are the definitions by Quesnay and Linnaeus; the two were new proposals in front of the mercantilist idea, and both relied on agriculture as the source of wealth.

  27. 27.

    For this approach, see Cartelier (1976).

  28. 28.

    See Phillips (1955).

  29. 29.

    Maital (1972).

  30. 30.

    Gilibert (1977). For a fuller exposition see Candela, G. and Palazzi, M. “Presentazione”, in Candela and Palazzi (1979).

  31. 31.

    Argemí et al. (1995).

  32. 32.

    Tocqueville (1973a, b). “Notes complémentaires”.

  33. 33.

    It is well known that Schumpeter said that of the four greatest economists of history, three were French: Walras was definitely one, and Turgot probably another.

  34. 34.

    Lundberg (1964).

  35. 35.

    Daire (1846).

  36. 36.

    Marx (1963).

  37. 37.

    Oncken (1888).

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Acknowledgement

I must thank Michael Maudsley for his help with the English version

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  1. University of Barcelona, Diagonal, 690, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Lluis Argemí d’Abadal

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Correspondence to Lluis Argemí d’Abadal .

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  1. Fak. Staatswissenschaften, Lehrst. Finanzwissenschaft/, Universität Erfurt, Nordhäuser Str. 63, Erfurt, 99089, Thüringen, Germany

    Jürgen Georg Backhaus

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d’Abadal, L.A. (2012). The Physiocrats. In: Backhaus, J. (eds) Handbook of the History of Economic Thought. The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences, vol 11. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8336-7_5

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