Died on this day 226 years ago — check out Propriety and Prosperity: New Studies on the Philosophy of Adam Smith for a collection of specially commissioned chapters from philosophers, economists, and political scientists, focusing on Adam Smith’s two main works Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations with a view to bringing Smith to a mainstream…
The latest issue of JMB is now available. The reviews are of particular interest since the Critical Notice is devoted to my chum Joaquín Fuster’s The Neuroscience of Freedom and Creativity: Our Predictive Brain written by Valerie Gray Hardcastle; a standard review by Maria Pia Paganelli of yours truly’s coedited Propriety and Prosperity: New Studies on the Philosophy of…
Maria Pia Paganelli’s conspectus that includes mention of Propriety and Prosperity: New Studies on the Philosophy of Adam Smith. Adam Smithmaria pia paganelliPropriety and Prosperity: New Studies on the Philosophy of Adam SmithScottish Enlightenmentscottish philosophy
I’ve been informed that the author of the much acclaimed The Life of Adam Smith has passed away. Though I never knew the man we corresponded vaguely about his getting involved with Propriety and Prosperity. It wasn’t to be. Adam SmithIan Simpson RossLife of Adam SmithPropriety and Prosperity: New Studies on the Philosophy of Adam Smith
Last but by no means least here is an extract from Vernon’s Smith’s foreword. This book is a welcome addition to the resurgent scholarly and practical interest in Adam Smith’s contributions to market economics and its antecedents in the social order of human culture. In Smith, propriety concerned the rules that govern human sociability by…
The intro to the final chapter — by Craig Smith There was a time when many commentators thought that there was a problem with Adam Smith. The tendency to read Smith’s thought as marred by supposed tensions between the ‘sympathy’ of The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) and the ‘selfishness’ of The Wealth of Nations…
The intro to Lauren Hall’s chapter. Smith scholarship is conflicted on whether the apparent conflict between self-interest in the Wealth of Nations (WN) and sympathy in the Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) indicates an intractable problem or is merely the result of a misunderstanding of Smith’s overall system. This chapter is written as a response both…
The intro to Jonathan Wight’s chapter. The invisible hand means a variety of things to modern writers, who use the phrase loosely to imply the market, the price system, efficiency, laissez-faire, greed is good, and so on (Samuels et. al., 2011; Medema, 2009; Rothschild, 1994). In some circles the invisible hand is referred to with…
Here is the intro to Gavin Kennedy’s chapter. This chapter discusses Adam Smith’s rhetorical use of the ‘invisible hand’ in the context of his teachings on metaphors as figures of speech in his lectures on Rhetoric (Edinburgh, 1748-51; Glasgow, 1752-64 (LRBL). After Smith died (1790), a strikingly long-period of silence about his three references to…
The intro to Eugene Heath’s chapter: Is there any reason to devote time or effort to reading (or writing) an additional essay on Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”? Given the plethora of papers (as well as chapters, comments, and asides) dedicated to uncovering, interpreting, explaining, or contextualizing this notable expression, one could be pardoned for responding…
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