Interpreting Adam Smith

Critical Essays

Paul Sagar

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781009296328
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Modern Philosophy

2023 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Adam Smith. Long known as the 'father of economics', Smith also produced moral and political writings which have increasingly come to be recognised as major contributions to the Scottish, and indeed wider European, Enlightenment. In this collection of original essays, leading Smith scholars offer fresh perspectives on how to think about Smith's ideas, the nature and importance of his works, and their impact upon subsequent thinkers and ultimately the world we live in. Bringing together both leading experts and some of the most exciting new voices in the field, this collection seeks both to celebrate and deepen our appreciation of what Adam Smith has to teach us.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Imprints page
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations of Works by Adam Smith
• Introduction
• 1 Smith Scholarship: Past, Present, and Future
• 2 The Wealth of Nations as a Work of Social Science
• 3 Adam Smith's ''Industrial Organization'' of Religion
• 4 Talking to My Butcher: Self-Interest, Exchange, and Freedom in the Wealth of Nations
• 5 What Did Adam Smith Mean? The Semantics of the Opening Key Principles in the Wealth of Nations
• 6 Adam Smith and Virtuous Business
• 7 Adam Smith and the Morality of Political Economy: A Public Choice Reading
• 8 A Moral Philosophy for Commercial Society?
• 9 Adam Smith, Sufficientarian
• 10 Narrowing the Scope of Resentment in Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments
• 11 Adam Smith: Stoic and Epicurean
• 12 ''Much Better Instructors'': Adam Smith and the Role of Literature in Moral Education
• 13 Sophie de Grouchy as an Activist Interpreter of Adam Smith
• 14 Adam Smith and the Limits of Philosophy
• Bibliography
• Index