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# Commercial Society

## Definition

A social organisation characterised by the widespread practice of exchange and trade, where individuals become merchants in some measure and the entire society develops through commercial interactions rather than subsistence or self-sufficiency.

## Source Chapter

Book I, Chapter 4

## Context

Smith describes how the division of labour transforms society from one of self-sufficiency to one where every individual participates in exchange, creating a commercial society where the primary mode of economic interaction is trade rather than direct production for personal consumption.

## Economic Domain

General Theory

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