There is a pattern in the development of philosophies. There are seminal figures who prepare the ground for new thought to grow and then there are the acolyte thinkers who think those new thoughts. I can think of two instances of that pattern;
The Reformation and Classical Economics.
Desiderius Erasmus was the seminal figure of the Reformation with his unofficial new Biblical translations marking the moment when questioning the practices of the Church became possible.
Although a staunch Catholic he prepared the philosophical ground for Martin Luther to create and publish his theses criticizing the practices of the Church which led to his open revolt and for John Calvin to develop new theology for a new church.
In Classical Economics there is the same pattern.
John Locke prepared the ground with natural property rights enforced by social contract for Adam Smith and Frédéric Bastiat who followed.
Adam Smith whose construct of the Invisible Hand of the market describes the action of arbitrage.
Frédéric Bastiat who, in his famous essay What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen concerning a broken window, described the action of opportunity cost in ordering economic behavior also followed in Locke’s footsteps.
Those two concepts, arbitrage and opportunity cost, describe a whole economic system of markets which require legal stewardship of assets, contracts, and a reliable currency.
Do Well and Be Well
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