William Robertson on Natural Resources and Cultural Contacts in Colonial America

Bibliographic Data

ID12899411
AuthorsNathaniel Wolloch (0000-0002-9758-7834, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume38
Issue1
Pages88-103
Publication date2018-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Scottish Historical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-538X • E-ISSN: 1755-1749
PublisherEdinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3366/jshs.2018.0235
OpenAlexW2807522378
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited11

Key to the Scottish conception of historical progress was the famous four-stages theory, claiming that all societies, given the proper natural surroundings, would progress from a hunting stage, to a shepherding (pastoral), agricultural, and finally the commercial stage found in modern advanced societies. Scholars have long recognized that each stage was characterized by the development of new modes of acquiring subsistence. What has not been sufficiently emphasized, however, is that stadial theory entailed growing sophistication in utilizing natural resources, thus enhancing the Enlightenment's emphasis on the mastery of nature. The purpose of the present paper is not to revisit these well-studied aspects of Scottish Enlightenment thought, but rather to investigate their intersection. Scholars to date have devoted little attention to how these two topics were often mutually at play in discussions of the progress, or lack thereof, of non-Europeans. This was particularly evident in the thought of Robertson, and to a certain extent also Smith

Agriculture · Archaeology · Enlightenment · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Natural (archaeology · Natural resource · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Sophistication · Subsistence agriculture · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical Art and Culture Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Philosophy

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