In the wealth of nations (1776), scottish economist adam smith asserted that the propensity of "truck, barter and exchange" was both the foundation of commerce and a given quality of human nature, driven by individual desire. smith’s view that self-interest dominated the business that emerged in early modern (sixteenth- and seventeenth century) england has had tremendous effects on how such relations have been perceived. today it is typically assumed, for instance, that the development of business relations weakened the spirit of cooperation that characterized village communities and encouraged a spirit of individualism and self-betterment that ran counter to community interest.
however, such a view fails to account for the language that people in early modern england used to articulate their understanding of business relations, language that stressed credit, trust, obligations, and contracts, rather than self-interest. throughout this period, most business transactions were conducted on credit—of plain dealing and of the keeping of promises —dominated the way in which business relations were conceived. individual profit and solvency were important, but neither could be achieved without the trust and direct cooperation of one’s neighbours. as a result, buying and selling, far from breaking up communities, actually created numerous bonds that held villages together. the passage is primarily concerned with which of the following? (a) criticizing a theory of human nature (b) evaluating the impact of a particular economist on modern theories of economic history (c) chronicling the early history of the use of credit in business relations (d) reconsidering accepted ideas about the history of business relations (e) explaining the decline of cooperation in village communities