Adam Smith

Smith proposes an account of how languages developed. He did so not as historian, but as a philosopher with a special concern about how a nominalist could account for general terms. Names for individuals are taken as fairly unproblematic – say ‘Thames’ and ‘Avon’ for each of the respective rivers. But whence the word ‘river,’ applicable to more than one, if all that exist are particular objects? Smith’s view is not the usual one, according to which people deploy a powerful ability to abstract mentally, and subsequently affix a label to a general concept. He resisted this because he granted that such robust mental processes themselves presuppose the use of words. Rather, what holds the class together is the word itself, a “single appellation.

Reading Adam Smith: Understanding the Misinterpretations & the Fallacy of the Adam Smith Problem

This paper investigates Adam Smith’s intricate vision of human motivation and seeks to expose the fallacy of the “Adam Smith Problem”. Through an expansive study of the famed economist’s two most prominent works, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (WN) and The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS), I will show that the two are perfect complements of one other and that Adam Smith did not set down in one place his views on the nature of man. Adam Smith saw man for what he truly is, dominated by selfinterest but not without concern for others, able to reason but not necessarily able to reach the best or right conclusion while all the time seeing one’s own actions through a veil of self-delusion. WN and TMS are equally important books, and in order to understand the economics and philosophy of Adam Smith, both must be read and studied

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist

In The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, Adam Smith famously argued that economic behavior was motivated by self-interest. But 17 years earlier in 1759, Smith had proposed a theory of human behavior that looks anything but self-interested. In his first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith argued that behavior was determined by the struggle between what Smith termed the “passions” and the “impartial spectator.” The passions included drives such as hunger and sex, emotions such as fear and anger, and motivational feeling states such as pain. Smith viewed behavior as under the direct control of the passions, but believed that people could override passion-driven behavior by viewing their own behavior from the perspective of an outsider—the impartial spectator—a “moral hector who, looking over the shoulder of the economic man, scrutinizes every move he makes” (Grampp, 1948, p. 317)

Adam Smith and Colonialism

In the context of debates about liberalism and colonialism, the arguments of Adam Smith have been taken as illustrative of an important line of anti-colonial liberal thought. The reading of Smith presented here challenges this interpretation. It argues that Smith’s opposition to colonial rule derived largely from its impact on the metropole, rather than on its impact on the conquered and colonised; that Smith recognised colonialism had brought ‘improvement’ in conquered territories and that Smith struggled to balance recognition of moral diversity with a universal moral framework and a commitment to a particular interpretation of progress through history. These arguments have a wider significance as they point towards some of the issues at stake in liberal anti-colonial arguments more generally

Out of sight, out of mind: Modern economics, social interactions, and Smith´s sympathy

After having reviewed some of the recent advances in Economics trying to incorporate new elements in our understanding of human interactions, we aim at contributing to this line of research using Adam Smith´s system of sympathy. The features Smithattributes to the intersubjective identification mechanism of sympathy lead not only to conceive the construction of a community but also the possibility of exclusion of some of its members. The asymmetry of sympathy allows explaining emulationof those seen as more fortunate as well as the exclusion of those perceived as miserable. Through a formal representation we try to illustrate the phenomena of inclusion and exclusion present in intersubjetive relations and the construction of communities.Keywords: Adam Smith, sympathy, emulation, exclusion.JEL Codes: B12, B31, D03.Adam Smith, sympathy, emulation, exclusion

Book review: Adam Smith reconsidered: history, liberty, and the foundations of modern politics by Paul Sagar

In Adam Smith Reconsidered: History, Liberty, and the Foundations of Modern Politics, Paul Sagar offers a new appraisal of the work of the influential economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith, retrieving Smith’s legacy from simplistic readings to show him as a complex thinker whose work matured, developed and shifted across his life. Anyone interested in Adam Smith or the history of political ideas should read this book, recommends Jake Scott. Adam Smith Reconsidered: History, Liberty, and the Foundations of Modern Politics. Paul Sagar. Princeton UP. 2022

Book review: Adam Smith reconsidered: history, liberty, and the foundations of modern politics by Paul Sagar

In Adam Smith Reconsidered: History, Liberty, and the Foundations of Modern Politics, Paul Sagar offers a new appraisal of the work of the influential economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith, retrieving Smith’s legacy from simplistic readings to show him as a complex thinker whose work matured, developed and shifted across his life. Anyone interested in Adam Smith or the history of political ideas should read this book, recommends Jake Scott. Adam Smith Reconsidered: History, Liberty, and the Foundations of Modern Politics. Paul Sagar. Princeton UP. 2022

Book review: Adam Smith reconsidered: history, liberty, and the foundations of modern politics by Paul Sagar

In Adam Smith Reconsidered: History, Liberty, and the Foundations of Modern Politics, Paul Sagar offers a new appraisal of the work of the influential economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith, retrieving Smith’s legacy from simplistic readings to show him as a complex thinker whose work matured, developed and shifted across his life. Anyone interested in Adam Smith or the history of political ideas should read this book, recommends Jake Scott. Adam Smith Reconsidered: History, Liberty, and the Foundations of Modern Politics. Paul Sagar. Princeton UP. 2022

References to Africa in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations and Some Key Propositions Surrounding Them

Adam Smith sought to illustrate some of his propositions in The Wealth of Nations (WON) with examples from Africa. However, the examples were few, and many were neither profound nor instructive from a principles viewpoint. I find that Africa figures very little in the WON, and nearly every time it appears cursory. With 20/20 hindsight, one may conclude that opinions about Africa have remained invariant with respect to time. Final value-judgment about whether that is a good or bad thing rests with the reader.Africa in Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith