The legacy of Adam Smith
(PART I)
The world of economics will not be complete without ever mentioning the name of Adam Smith (baptized June 16, 1723 – July 17, 1790), widely cited as the Father of Modern Economics. He is a Scottish philosopher, one of the key figures of the Scottish enlightenment and is a pioneer of political economy. In 1776, he wrote the book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations and became a classic of modern economics. Adam Smith was among the foremost philosophers of his age.
I
THE LIFE OF ADAM SMITH
Adam Smith was born to Margaret Douglas at Kirkcaldy, Scotland. His father, also named Adam Smith, was a lawyer, civil servant, and widower who married Margaret Douglas in 1720 and died six months before Smith was born and for that he became close to his mother. She encouraged him to pursue scholarly ambitions. He attended the Burgh School of Kirkcaldy – characterised as "one of the best secondary schools of Scotland at that period" – from 1729 to 1737. There he studied Latin, mathematics, history, and writing.
Smith entered the University of Glasgow when he was fourteen and studied moral philosophy. Here he developed his passion for liberty, reason, and free speech. In 1740, He left the University of Glasgow to attend Balliol College, Oxford. This is when he found out that the teaching at Glasgow is far superior to that at Oxford. Nevertheless, Smith took the opportunity while at Oxford to teach himself several subjects by reading many books from the shelves of the large Oxford library. He left Oxford University in 1746, before his scholarship ended.
Smith began delivering public lectures in 1748 at Edinburgh. His lecture topics included rhetoric and later the subject of progress of which he first expounded his economic philosophy. In 1750, he met the philosopher David Hume, who was his senior by more than a decade. The alignments of opinion that can be found within their writings covering history, politics, philosophy, economics, and religion indicate until the emergence of the so called Scottish Enlightenment.
In 1751, Smith earned a professorship at Glasgow University teaching logic courses. When the Chair of Moral Philosophy died the next year, Smith took over the position. Smith would continue academic work for the next thirteen years, which Smith characterized as "by far the most useful and therefore by far the happiest and most honorable period [of his life]". His lectures covered the fields of ethics, rhetoric, jurisprudence, political economy, and "police and revenue". At Glasgow, Adam Smith lectured on problems of moral Philosophy. He expounded the natural laws that underlay the seeming chaos of the universe. Those topics were broadly conceived today than it was before. But Smith became known for his accomplishments. (Heilbroner, 1986)
He published The Theory of Moral Sentiments in 1759, embodying some of his Glasgow lectures. This work was concerned with how human morality depends on the individual and other members of society. He bases his explanation on sympathy. Smith's popularity greatly increased due to The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and as a result, students had left their schools in other countries to enroll at Glasgow and hear his discourse.
After the publication of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith began to give more attention to economics in his lectures and less to his theories of morals. In 1762, the academic senate of the University of Glasgow conferred on Smith the title of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.). At the end of 1763, he obtained a lucrative offer from Charles Townshend (who had been introduced to Smith by David Hume) to tutor his stepson, Henry Scott, the young Duke of Buccleuch. Smith subsequently resigned from his professorship to take the tutoring position.
Smith's tutoring job entailed touring Europe with Henry Scott while teaching him subjects. Smith first traveled as a tutor to Toulouse, France, where he stayed for a year and a half. According to accounts, Smith found Toulouse to be very boring, and he wrote to Hume that he "had begun to write a book in order to pass away the time". After touring the south of France, the group moved to Geneva. While in Geneva, Smith met with the philosopher Voltaire. After staying in Geneva, the party went to Paris where he met intellectual leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Turgot, Jean D'Alembert, André Morellet, Helvétius and, in particular, Francois Quesnay, the lea ding figure of the Physiocracy school in his time.
In 1766, Henry Scott's younger brother died in Paris, and Smith's tour as a tutor ended shortly thereafter. Smith returned home that year to Kirkcaldy, and he devoted much of the next ten years to his magnum opus which was published in 1776. In May 1773 he was elected fellow of the Royal Society of London, and was elected a member of the Literary Club in 1775. In 1778 Smith was appointed to a post as commissioner of customs in Scotland and went to live with his mother in Edinburgh. Five years later, he became one of the founding members of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and from 1787 to 1789 he occupied the honorary position of Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow. He died in Edinburgh on 17 July 1790 after a painful illness and was buried in the Canongate Kirkyard.
II
HIS MAGNUM OPUS
Adam Smith published a large body of works throughout his life, some of which have shaped the field of economics. Smith's first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments was written in 1759, A Treatise on Public Opulence (1764) (first published in 1937), Essays on Philosophical Subjects (1795), Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue, and Arms (1763) (first published in 1896), and Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. (www.wikipedia.org). Before dealing with Adam Smith's is also important to note that he published an earlier book and that is the Theory of Moral Sentiments, published in 1759. Here, he regarded the moral sensibility as an important human concept. And for that it is important to remember that Adam Smith is a moral philosopher. But it his book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” That made him a leading figure in economics. His idea was a bridge in the development of economic ideas that we have today.
(Next Blog is about the book. Sources to be cited later).
(PART I)
The world of economics will not be complete without ever mentioning the name of Adam Smith (baptized June 16, 1723 – July 17, 1790), widely cited as the Father of Modern Economics. He is a Scottish philosopher, one of the key figures of the Scottish enlightenment and is a pioneer of political economy. In 1776, he wrote the book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations and became a classic of modern economics. Adam Smith was among the foremost philosophers of his age.
I
THE LIFE OF ADAM SMITH
Adam Smith was born to Margaret Douglas at Kirkcaldy, Scotland. His father, also named Adam Smith, was a lawyer, civil servant, and widower who married Margaret Douglas in 1720 and died six months before Smith was born and for that he became close to his mother. She encouraged him to pursue scholarly ambitions. He attended the Burgh School of Kirkcaldy – characterised as "one of the best secondary schools of Scotland at that period" – from 1729 to 1737. There he studied Latin, mathematics, history, and writing.
Smith entered the University of Glasgow when he was fourteen and studied moral philosophy. Here he developed his passion for liberty, reason, and free speech. In 1740, He left the University of Glasgow to attend Balliol College, Oxford. This is when he found out that the teaching at Glasgow is far superior to that at Oxford. Nevertheless, Smith took the opportunity while at Oxford to teach himself several subjects by reading many books from the shelves of the large Oxford library. He left Oxford University in 1746, before his scholarship ended.
Smith began delivering public lectures in 1748 at Edinburgh. His lecture topics included rhetoric and later the subject of progress of which he first expounded his economic philosophy. In 1750, he met the philosopher David Hume, who was his senior by more than a decade. The alignments of opinion that can be found within their writings covering history, politics, philosophy, economics, and religion indicate until the emergence of the so called Scottish Enlightenment.
In 1751, Smith earned a professorship at Glasgow University teaching logic courses. When the Chair of Moral Philosophy died the next year, Smith took over the position. Smith would continue academic work for the next thirteen years, which Smith characterized as "by far the most useful and therefore by far the happiest and most honorable period [of his life]". His lectures covered the fields of ethics, rhetoric, jurisprudence, political economy, and "police and revenue". At Glasgow, Adam Smith lectured on problems of moral Philosophy. He expounded the natural laws that underlay the seeming chaos of the universe. Those topics were broadly conceived today than it was before. But Smith became known for his accomplishments. (Heilbroner, 1986)
He published The Theory of Moral Sentiments in 1759, embodying some of his Glasgow lectures. This work was concerned with how human morality depends on the individual and other members of society. He bases his explanation on sympathy. Smith's popularity greatly increased due to The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and as a result, students had left their schools in other countries to enroll at Glasgow and hear his discourse.
After the publication of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith began to give more attention to economics in his lectures and less to his theories of morals. In 1762, the academic senate of the University of Glasgow conferred on Smith the title of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.). At the end of 1763, he obtained a lucrative offer from Charles Townshend (who had been introduced to Smith by David Hume) to tutor his stepson, Henry Scott, the young Duke of Buccleuch. Smith subsequently resigned from his professorship to take the tutoring position.
Smith's tutoring job entailed touring Europe with Henry Scott while teaching him subjects. Smith first traveled as a tutor to Toulouse, France, where he stayed for a year and a half. According to accounts, Smith found Toulouse to be very boring, and he wrote to Hume that he "had begun to write a book in order to pass away the time". After touring the south of France, the group moved to Geneva. While in Geneva, Smith met with the philosopher Voltaire. After staying in Geneva, the party went to Paris where he met intellectual leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Turgot, Jean D'Alembert, André Morellet, Helvétius and, in particular, Francois Quesnay, the lea ding figure of the Physiocracy school in his time.
In 1766, Henry Scott's younger brother died in Paris, and Smith's tour as a tutor ended shortly thereafter. Smith returned home that year to Kirkcaldy, and he devoted much of the next ten years to his magnum opus which was published in 1776. In May 1773 he was elected fellow of the Royal Society of London, and was elected a member of the Literary Club in 1775. In 1778 Smith was appointed to a post as commissioner of customs in Scotland and went to live with his mother in Edinburgh. Five years later, he became one of the founding members of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and from 1787 to 1789 he occupied the honorary position of Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow. He died in Edinburgh on 17 July 1790 after a painful illness and was buried in the Canongate Kirkyard.
II
HIS MAGNUM OPUS
Adam Smith published a large body of works throughout his life, some of which have shaped the field of economics. Smith's first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments was written in 1759, A Treatise on Public Opulence (1764) (first published in 1937), Essays on Philosophical Subjects (1795), Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue, and Arms (1763) (first published in 1896), and Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. (www.wikipedia.org). Before dealing with Adam Smith's is also important to note that he published an earlier book and that is the Theory of Moral Sentiments, published in 1759. Here, he regarded the moral sensibility as an important human concept. And for that it is important to remember that Adam Smith is a moral philosopher. But it his book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” That made him a leading figure in economics. His idea was a bridge in the development of economic ideas that we have today.
(Next Blog is about the book. Sources to be cited later).
