Doux Commerce

Wow. The learning doesn't stop.

The Doux Commerce Thesis:

Starting with the private property order, the need to make a living under conditions of volunteerism and free association requires that people conduct themselves in a manner acceptable to their trading partners. This phenomenon has come to be known as the "doux-commerce thesis." It is the idea that in a market setting, gentle manners, polish, and cordiality are the result of self-interest. Many political theorists have stressed the importance of the doux-commerce thesis including Montesquieu, Smith, Hume, Condorcet, and Thomas Paine.