A LEXICO-SEMANTIC EXPLORATION OF THE TERM LABOUR AS DEVELOPED IN ADAM SMITH’S THE WEALTH OF NATIONS
Abstract
Great thinkers like Engels and Darwin wrote brilliant essays and books in which
they presented their ideas and points of view on labour. Nowadays, individuals
face in their various workplaces challenges driven either by labour relations and
labour conflicts. But it seems that this term has a wider scope in The Wealth of
Nations (1776) by Adam Smith. Indeed, the exploration of the conceptual areas of
the term in virtually all the contexts in which it is used in the book reveals its
complex economic flavours. The aim of this research work is to carry out a
detailed analysis of the concept in the various contexts in which it is used in the
book. Therefore, the research methodology followed is the qualitative paradigm
which draws on, and interprets the analytical and cognitive meaning of the term
labour. This approach moves away from theoretical approaches such as
dictionary approaches which tend to define and connote the word out of any
particular context. As a result, the term labour proves to be a highly technical and
polysemous one which is presented in various contexts as being the same as
work, labourers, a commodity, the real price of a commodity, a means of
purchase, the original purchase money, a human activity, etc. The ongoing article
explores that concept in the works of several other authors in a bid to compare
the different meanings it assumes in different areas.