Politics in Commercial Society: Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam SmithScholars normally emphasize the contrast between the two great eighteenth century thinkers Jean Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith. Rousseau is seen as a critic of modernity, Smith as an apologist. Istvan Hont, however, finds significant commonalities in their work, arguing that both were theorists of commercial society and from surprisingly similar perspectives. In making his case, Hont begins with the concept of commercial society and explains why that