The Oxford Handbook of Adam Smith

by Christopher J. Berry (Editor), Maria Pia Paganelli (Editor), Craig Smith (Editor)

Overview

Adam Smith (1723-90) is a thinker with a distinctive perspective on human behaviour and social institutions. He is best known as the author of the An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). Yet his work is name-checked more often than it is read and then typically it is of an uninformed nature; that he is an apologist for capitalism, a forceful promoter of self-interest, a defender of greed and a critic of any 'interference' in market transactions. To offset this caricature, this Handbook provides an informed portrait. Drawing on the expertise of leading Smith scholars from around the world, it reflects the depth and breadth of Smith's intellectual interests. After an introductory outline chapter on Smith's life and times, the volume comprises 28 new essays divided into seven parts. Five sections are devoted to particular themes in Smith's corpus - his views on Language, Art and Culture; his Moral Philosophy; his Economic thought, his discussions of History and Politics and his analyses of Social Relations. These five parts are framed by one that focuses on the immediate and proximate sources of his thought and the final one that recognizes Smith's status as a thinker of world-historical significance - indicating both his posthumous impact and influence and his contemporary resonance. While each chapter is a discrete contribution to scholarship, the Handbook comprises a composite whole to enable the full range of Smith's work to be appreciated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199605064
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/12/2013
Series:	Oxford Handbooks
Pages:	646
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.80(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Christopher J. Berry is Professor (Emeritus) of Political Theory and Honorary Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. He has established himself as a leading international scholar of the Scottish Enlightenment. In addition to seminal articles, and contributions in this area, he is the author of the key text Social Theory of the Scottish Enlightenment (Edinburgh, 1997), which is shortly to appear in both Japanese and Chinese translations His scholarship ranges more widely. He is the author of six books, including The Idea of Luxury (Cambridge, 1994 Chinese translation, 2005) and David Hume (Continuum 2009). He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, of which Adam Smith was a founder member. His book The Idea of Commercial Society in the Scottish Enlightenment (Edinburgh) is scheduled to appear in 2013.

Maria Pia Paganelli is an assistant professor of economics at Trinity University. She works on Adam Smith, David Hume, 18th century monetary theories, and also explores the links between the Scottish Enlightenment and the results from behavioural economics. She won the 2009 European Society of the History of Economic Thought's Best Article of the Year prize and is book review editor of the Journal of the History of Economic Thought.

Craig Smith is a lecturer in the Department of Moral Philosophy at the University of St Andrews. He works on the history of political thought with particular reference to the eighteenth century and the Scottish Enlightenment. He is the author of Adam Smith's Political Philosophy: The Invisible Hand and Spontaneous Order (Routledge, 2006) and is book review editor of the Adam Smith Review.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations xv

List of Contributors xvii

Introduction: Adam Smith: An Outline of Life, Times, and Legacy Christopher J. Berry 1

Smith's Life (1723-90) 1

Scotland in the age of Smith 5

The Enlightenment: Scotland and beyond 10

Legacy and reputation 13

Part I Adam Smith: Heritage and Contemporaries

1 Adam Smith: A Biographer's Reflections Nicholas Phillipson 23

2 Newtonianism and Adam Smith Leonidas Montes 36

Newtonianism 38

Newton's Reception 42

Smith's Newtonianism 46

Conclusion 50

3 Adam Smith and Rousseau: Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment Dennis C. Rasmussen 54

Spreading 'enlightenment' 56

Markets and morals 60

Liberty and citizenship 64

The progress of society 68

4 Adam Smith and Early-Modern Thought Christopher J. Berry 77

Descartes (1596-1650) 79

Bacon (1561-1626) 80

Hobbes (1588-1679) 83

Locke (1632-1704) 87

Pufendorf (1632-94) 90

Harrington (1611-77) 92

Shaftesbury (1671-1713) and Mandeville (1670-1732) 94

Hutcheson (1694-1746) 95

Conclusion 97

Part II Adam Smith on Language, Art, and Culture

5 Adam Smith's Aesthetics Catherine Labio 105

'The history of astronomy', or why the imagination matters 106

'Of the external senses': perception, language, meaning 108

The essay on the imitative arts: the case for disparity 109

The lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres, or why character matters 111

Lectures on jurisprudence, or the institutionalization of art and literature 116

The theory of moral sentiments: aesthetics, ethics, and economics 117

The wealth of nations: (un)productive labour 122

Conclusion 124

6 Adam Smith as Critic James Chandler 126

7 Adam Smith: History and Poetics Michael C. Amrozowicz 143

8 Adam Smith on Language and Rhetoric: The Ethics of Style, Character, and Propriety C. Jan Swearingen 159

Rhetoric and character 162

Language 167

Histories: speech, style, and character 170

Legacies 172

Part III Adam Smith and Moral Philosophy

9 Adam Smith: The Sympathetic Process and the Origin and Function of Conscience Christel Fricke 177

Introduction: conscience in the Theory of Moral Sentiments 177

Moral education, the sympathetic process, and naïve moral judgment 180

Conscientious moral self-judgment and the explicit concern for impartiality and praiseworthiness 184

Conscientious moral self-judgment 188

Conscience, virtue, and the problem of erroneous moral judgment 191

The 'wise and virtuous' 196

Conclusion 198

10 Adam Smith and the Limits of Sympathy Duncan Kelly 201

Authority and utility 202

Imagination 204

Propriety and sympathetic judgment 206

Conclusion 214

11 Adam Smith and Virtue Ryan Patrick Hanley 219

Smith's eclectic virtue theory 219

Smith on the ethical virtues 222

Smith on the intellectual virtues 230

The wise and virtuous man and the pursuit of perfection 236

12 Adam Smith and Self-interest Eugene Heath 241

Self-preservation, selfishness, and self-interest 242

Self-love and self-interest 245

Self-love and the corruption of moral perception 250

Self-interest and commerce 253

Prudence and ambition 259

Part IV Adam Smith and Economics

13 Adam Smith on Labour and Capital Tony Aspromourgos 267

Division of labour 268

The concept of capital 270

Capital accumulation and economic development 272

Productive versus unproductive labour 275

Wages and profits 278

Economic policy 282

Legacy 285

14 Adam Smith on Value and Prices Nerio Naldi 290

Two meanings of value 292

Real price and real measure of exchangeable value 293

The component parts of price 298

Natural price, market price, and effectual demand 302

15 Adam Smith on Money, Banking, and the Price Level Hugh Rockoff 307

The money supply 307

The weakness of a fractional reserve banking system 309

Small notes 311

The Ayr Bank and the Crisis of 1772 314

The real bills doctrine 317

Usury laws 318

The role of the Bank of England 319

Bank regulation: the bottom line 321

Smith's macroeconomic views 322

Conclusion 329

16 Commercial Relations: From Adam Smith to Field Experiments Maria Pia Paganelli 333

Markets fostering morality 334

Morality fostering markets 340

Negative consequences of markets on morality 343

A testable hypothesis 344

Conclusion 347

Part V Adam Smith on History and Politics

17 Adam Smith: Theorist of Corruption Spiros Tegos 353

The butcher, the brewer, and the courtier: the issue of obsequiousness 354

Moderate virtues and obsequiousness 359

Endemic commercial corruption 361

Commerce and martial spirit 361

Division of labour and alienation 362

Commercial manners and the corruption of moderate virtues 364

The coxcomb and the poor man's son 366

Concluding remarks 368

18 Adam Smith and the State: Language and Reform David M. Levy Sandra J. Peart 372

Does reform make sense in Smith's system? 374

Reading Smith 375

The texts 378

A necessary scarcity 379

Hume on contingent property 380

Diffusion of imperative to act justly 383

Leadership and time 384

Time and habit explain the outcome of a political process 386

Reform as social stoicism 386

Conclusion 388

19 Adam Smith and the Law Fabrizio Simon 393

Rights and law in Smithian jurisprudence 393

The role of justice 400

The anti-utilitarianism and anti-contractualism of Smithian jurisprudence 408

Smith and modern law and economics 411

Conclusion 414

20 Adam Smith on Empire and International Relations Edwin van de Haar 417

Main influences 418

On empire 422

Smith on international relations 428

Adam Smith and international relations theory 433

Part VI Adam Smith on Social Relations

21 Adam Smith on Civility and Civil Society Richard Boyd 443

Civil society in Smith's time and ours 443

The genealogy of 'civil society' 445

Civil society and manners 449

Civil society and justice 451

Civil society and citizenship 454

Civil society and the division of labour 455

The ambivalence of civil society 458

Conclusion 460

22 Adam Smith on Religion Gavin Kennedy 464

Childhood 465

Oxford 465

The significance of his mother 467

A revealing incident in 1785 468

Religion in Smith's earliest essay 468

Religion in the wealth of nations 470

Theology in moral sentiments 473

Closing thoughts 481

23 Adam Smith on Equality Samuel Fleischacker 485

Is Smith an egalitarian? 485

Equality in The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations 487

Hierarchy in The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations 494

Varieties of egilatarianism 496

24 Adam Smith on Women Maureen Harkin 501

The Wealth of Nations 502

Lectures on jurisprudence 504

Theory of moral sentiments 513

Part VII Adam Smith: Legacy and Influence

25 Adam Smith and Marx Spencer J. Pack 523

Marx's general attitude towards Smith 524

Value theory 527

Money and capital 528

Character 530

The state and change 533

Conclusion 536

26 Adam Smith and the New Right Craig Smith 539

The New Right 541

Friedman 545

Buchanan 547

Hayek 550

Hume 554

Conclusion 555

27 Adam Smith: Methods, Morals, and Markets Tom Campbell 559

Methods 561

Morals 566

Markets 571

Conclusion 578

28 The Contemporary Relevance of Adam Smith Amartya Sen 581

Early reception of Smith 581

Uses and abuses of Smith 582

'Prodigals' and 'projectors' 584

Smith and the role of the state 585

Smith's ideas on reasoned choice and rationality 585

Smith on human behaviour 587

Smith on the pursuit of justice 588

Global reasoning in the contemporary world and the impartial spectator 589

A concluding remark 591

Index 593

Editorial Reviews

"This ambitious volume, containing no fewer than 28 original contributions, covers every aspect of Adam Smith's work, providing assessment of his conclusions on economic and social progress and how far these might generate moral principles which would offer guidelines for governmental action."

— Professor Sir Alan Peacock, DSC, BFA, FRSE

"This volume, edited by leading Adam Smith scholars, collects fresh contributions to the multidisciplinary understanding and interpretation of Adam Smith for all time. It is a most welcome and timely addition to the re-surging rediscovery of Adam Smith."

— Vernon L. Smith, Chapman University, 2002 Nobel Laureate in Economics

"This unusually wide-ranging and interdisciplinary volume makes a splendid contribution to the growing contemporary literature on Adam Smith. It will be of interest both to students and accomplished scholars of Smith's work. The essays are meticulously edited and well-written."

— Charles L. Griswold, Philosophy Department, Boston University

"Adam Smith had a profound wisdom and grasp of human nature and civil society. This Handbook introduces us to his comprehensive thought and leads us to contemplate the capability of humankind to create a universal good society."

— Hideo Tanaka, Professor, Kyoto University

From the Publisher