ONTOLOGICAL COHESION THROUGH LABOUR: THE SOCIAL ORGANISM OF ADAM SMITH’S COMMERCIAL SOCIETY

Author: Dr. Mehdi Morchid

ABSTRACT

This article argues that Adam Smith constructs labour not merely as an economic input, but as the ontological medium through which society coheres as a unified social organism. Drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), the study analyses Smith’s metaphorical conceptualisations of “labour” and the “labourer” in The Wealth of Nations (1776), focusing on metaphors of interdependence, enhancement, benefit, competition and shared fate. By systematically mapping source domains such as organisms, machines, commodities, circulation, and art onto target domains associated with labour, production, and social relations, the analysis demonstrates how Smith frames labour as the force that binds different social actors into a single functional body. The paper argues that these metaphors reveal an implicit ontology of cohesion, in which social unity is organically generated through the division of labour and the pursuit of self-interest. The findings illuminate a conceptual and structural affinity between Smith’s commercial society and Durkheim’s notion of organic solidarity, showing that labour, for Smith, is not only productive but constitutive of social being itself.

Keywords: Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Adam Smith, Social Ontology, Organic Solidarity, Émile Durkheim, Social Cohesion

REFERENCES

  1. Durkheim, É. (1997). The division of labour in society (W. D. Halls, Trans.). The Macmillan Press Ltd. (Original work published 1893)
  2. Kövecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor: A practical introduction (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
  3. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
  4. Smith, A. (1776). An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. W. Strahan and T. Cadell.