Adam Smith: His Life, Thought, and Legacy

by Ryan Hanley (Editor)

Overview

The essential guide to the life, thought, and legacy of Adam Smith

Adam Smith (1723–90) is perhaps best known as one of the first champions of the free market and is widely regarded as the founding father of capitalism. From his ideas about the promise and pitfalls of globalization to his steadfast belief in the preservation of human dignity, his work is as relevant today as it was in the eighteenth century. Here, Ryan Hanley brings together some of the world's finest scholars from across a variety of disciplines to offer new perspectives on Smith's life, thought, and enduring legacy.

Contributors provide succinct and accessible discussions of Smith's landmark works and the historical context in which he wrote them, the core concepts of Smith's social vision, and the lasting impact of Smith's ideas in both academia and the broader world. They reveal other sides of Smith beyond the familiar portrayal of him as the author of the invisible hand, emphasizing his deep interests in such fields as rhetoric, ethics, and jurisprudence. Smith emerges not just as a champion of free markets but also as a thinker whose unique perspective encompasses broader commitments to virtue, justice, equality, and freedom.

An essential introduction to Adam Smith's life and work, this incisive and thought-provoking book features contributions from leading figures such as Nicholas Phillipson, Amartya Sen, and John C. Bogle. It demonstrates how Smith's timeless insights speak to contemporary concerns such as growth in the developing world and the future of free trade, and how his influence extends to fields ranging from literature and philosophy to religion and law.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691154053
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	01/12/2016
Pages:	600
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Ryan Patrick Hanley holds the Mellon Distinguished Professorship in Political Science at Marquette University. He is the author of Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue and the editor of the Penguin Classics edition of Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Abbreviations x i i i

Notes on Contributors xv

I . INTRODUCTION: TEXTS AND CONTEXT

1. THE BIOGRAPHY OF ADAM SMITH James Buchan 3

2. THE LECTURES ON RHETORIC AND BELLES LETTRES Vivienne Brown 17

3. THE THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS Eric Schliesser 33

4. THE LECTURES ON JURISPRUDENCE Knud Haakonssen 48

5. THE WEALTH OF NATIONS Jerry Evensky 67

6. THE ESSAYS ON PHILOSOPHICAL SUBJECTS Craig Smith 89

7. SMITH AND THE SCOTTISH ENLIGHTENMENT Nicholas Phillipson 105

II. SMITH’S SOCIAL VISION

8. ADAM SMITH ON LIVING A LIFE Ryan Patrick Hanley 123

9. ADAM SMITH: SELF-INTEREST AND THE VIRTUES Leonidas Montes 138

10. ADAM SMITH ON EQUALITY Elizabeth Anderson 157

11. ADAM SMITH ON JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE Nicholas Wolterstorff 173

12. ADAM SMITH AND THE SYMPATHETIC IMAGINATION Remy Debes 192

13. ADAM SMITH ON FREEDOM David Schmidtz 208

III. SMITH AND ECONOMICS

14. ADAM SMITH AND MODERN ECONOMICS Agnar Sandmo 231

15. ADAM SMITH AND THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT: THE CASE OF BANKING Maria Pia Paganelli 247

16. ADAM SMITH AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS: SENTIMENTS TO WEALTH Vernon L. Smith 262

17. ADAM SMITH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Amartya Sen 281

IV. SMITH BEYOND ECONOMICS

18. ADAM SMITH AND RELIGION Gordon Graham 305

19. ADAM SMITH AND POLITICAL THEORY Lisa Hill 321

20. ADAM SMITH AND MODERN ETHICS Lisa Herzog 340

21. ADAM SMITH AND FEMINIST ETHICS: SYMPATHY, RESENTMENT, AND SOLIDARITY Jacqueline Taylor 354

22. ADAM SMITH’S JURISPRUDENCE: RESENTMENT, PUNISHMENT, JUSTICE Chad Flanders 371

23. ADAM SMITH AND RHETORIC Stephen McKenna 387

24. ADAM SMITH’S NARRATIVE LINE Karen Valihora 405

25. ADAM SMITH AND THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Michaël Biziou 422

26. ADAM SMITH AND ENLIGHTENMENT STUDIES Fredrik Albritton Jonsson 443

V. SMITH BEYOND THE ACADEMY

27. ADAM SMITH: SOME POPULAR USES AND ABUSES Gavin Kennedy 461

28. ADAM SMITH AND THE LEFT Samuel Fleischacker 478

29. ADAM SMITH AND THE RIGHT James R. Otteson 494

30. ADAM SMITH IN CHINA: FROM IDEOLOGY TO ACADEMIA Luo Wei-Dong 512

31. ADAM SMITH AND SHAREHOLDER CAPITALISM John C. Bogle 525

32. ADAM SMITH AND FREE TRADE Douglas A. Irwin 542

Index 559

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This brilliantly conceived collection brings together leading scholars from a variety of disciplines and walks of life to reflect on Adam Smith's life, thought, influence, and legacy. There is a great deal of value here to both the novice and seasoned scholar. This volume is now the best companion to reading Adam Smith."—Jerry Z. Muller, author of Adam Smith in His Time and Ours: Designing the Decent Society

"This book provides an up-to-date guide to the entire range and breadth of Adam Smith's work, life, and influence. It weaves across disciplines and genres, providing a compendious account and covering all possible bases."—Duncan Kelly, author of The Propriety of Liberty

Editorial Reviews

"This wide-ranging collection is indispensable for Smith scholars and anyone interested in his works. . . . Scholarship on Smith has grown considerably in the last twenty years, and this collection is a welcome addition to this exciting area of research."

Review of Metaphysics

"An excellent and very useful compendium of every conceivable aspect of modern scholarship's understanding of the life and work of the author of The Wealth of Nations."

Chronicles

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016

From the Publisher

"Hanley has assembled an excellent collection of essays on the life and work of Adam Smith. Thirty-two Smith scholars from philosophy, economics, history, political science, English, and law contribute insightful and accessible chapters exploring Smith's social vision and its relevance in various contexts over time. . . . Overall, it would be hard to find a more balanced, comprehensive, and well-documented presentation of Smith's role in forwarding Enlightenment thinking from 18th-century Europe to China in recent decades. There is much in these essays for both seasoned Smith followers and those new to his work."

Choice

01/01/2016
Hanley (political science, Marquette Univ; Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue) is a leading Adam Smith (1723–90) scholar, as are most of the additional 31 contributors he has assembled for this volume. They are an interdisciplinary and international lot. The book's 32 short chapters are grouped into five parts, which begin with a biographical essay, chapters on Smith's major works (Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Lectures on Jurisprudence, The Wealth of Nations, and Essay on Philosophical Subjects), and a section placing Smith in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment. This is followed by "Smith's Social Vision," which investigates the art of living, virtues, equality, justice, imagination, and freedom. Part 3, the shortest in the book, concentrates on economics. Part 4, the longest, considers "Smith Beyond Economics," addresses religion, political theory, ethics, feminism, jurisprudence, rhetoric, narration, history of philosophy, and Enlightenment studies. In the final segment, Hanley's study ranges further afield, tracing "Smith beyond the academy." Each chapter (but one) concludes with a brief biographical summary noting the essential sources for further reading. VERDICT This volume covers much that will be of interest to specialists and nonspecialists alike, but some may find the collection short shrifts Smith's 18th- and 19th-century reception.—Mark Spencer, Brock Univ., St. Catharines, Ont.

Library Journal