Adam Smith: (International Library of Critical Essays in the History of Philosophy)

This collection of essays explores the literature of Adam Smith, not in his allotted role as the father of modern economics, but focussing on his work as a moral philosopher. Smith's philosophy is a less than straight-forward concept. His "Theory of Moral Sentiments" suggests that sympathy was natural to man, while his "Wealth of Nations" worked out a grand socio-economic theory on the assumption that human nature essentially was self-interested. This seems contradictory, and the essays presented here explore how, like his contemporaries, Smith had a much broader idea of philosophy, and these two works represented part of a much larger whole. The book provides a background to the essays, outlining a few major themes from Smith's literature, the essays reflecting more the current state of Smith scholarship than a historical collection.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Ethics: Philosophy in moral practice - Kant and Adam Smith, S. Fleischacker; rhetoric and ethics - Adam Smith on theorizing about the moral sentiment, Charles Griswold; the commerce of sympathy - Adam Smith on the emergence of sympathy, E. Heath; Hume and Smith on justice and utility, D.D. Raphael; two concepts of morality - a distinction of Adam Smith's ethics and its stoic origin, Norbert Waszek. Part 2 Utility, teleology and religion: the utilitarianism of Adam Smith's policy advice, T.D. Campbell, I.S. Ross; the theory and practice of the wise and virtuous man - reflections on Adam Smith's responses to Hume's deathbed wish, T.D. Campbell, I.S. Ross; final causes in Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments, R.A. Keer. Part 3 Jurisprudence: what might properly be called natural jurisprudence? Knud Haakonssen; Adam Smith on law, D.N. MacCormick; new light on Adam Smith's Glasgow lectures on jurisprudence, Ronald Meek; Adam Smith's jurisprudence - between morality and economics, Peter Stein. Part 4 Politics: Liberalism, civic humanism, and the case of Adam Smith, E. Harpham; Scottish political economy beyond the civic tradition - government and economic development in "the wealth of nations", John Robertson; Adam Smith's second thoughts - economic liberalism and its unintended consequences, Jeremy Sheamur; Adam Ferguson, Adam Smith, and the problem of national defense, Richard B. Sher; Adam Smith and the liberal tradition, in "Traditions of Liberalism", Donald Winch. Part 5 Civil society: Women and humanity in Scottish enlightenment social thought - the case of Adam Smith, Henry C. Clark; Smith, Turgot, and the "four stages" theory, R.L. Meek; Adam Smith on feudalism, commerce, and slavery, John Salter. Part 6 The nature of Smith's theory: Historicizing the "Adam Smith problem" - conceptual, historiographical, and textual issues, Lawrence Dickey; rethinking "Das Adam Smith problem" R.F. Reichgraeber III; Adam Smith - Scottish moral philosopher as political economist, Donald Winch. Part 7 Language: Adam Smith's "Considerations on languages", C.J. Berry.