ABSTRACT
Traité (1803) was of French political economy of the period. Then, we attempt to determine what exactly was meant by the method of analysis and, more importantly, how one would recognise a treatise as a contribution to idéologie if one were to examine it. Next, we examine Say’s statements on the appropriate method of economics from two primary sources during the period of our investigation: his notes on Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (Hashimoto 1980; 1982) and the methodological introduction to the first edition of the Traité d’Économie Politique (1803). Then, we consider one example of the way in which the dissemination of the insights of political economy would contribute to the ideological goal of social stabilisation. Finally, we conclude that the Traité (1803) was Say’s first attempt to be the ‘saviour of his nation’ (see below, p. 200) by creating a fundamental treatise on political economy designed specifically to further public understanding of the science.
