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The role of Adam Smith in economics
Adam smith contribution to the economics
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Adam Smith was born on July 5, 1723 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. At the age of fourteen, Smith entered the University of Glasgow, where he studied moral philosophy under Francis Hutcheson. Here Smith developed his strong passion for liberty, reason, and free speech. In 1740 he was awarded the Snell Exhibition and entered Balliol College, Oxford. In 1746 Smith left Oxford. In 1748 Smith began delivering public lectures in Edinburgh under the patronage of the Lord Kames. In 1751 Smith Was appointed the Chair of Logic at University of Glasgow, the next year he was appointed the Chair of Moral Philosophy, which was the position of his old teacher Francis Hutcheson. In 1759 he published The Theory of Moral Sentiments, it was embodied several of his lectures from his roles at Glasgow. In 1762 the academic senate of the University of Glasgow conferred on Smith the title of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.). Smith subsequently resigned from his professorship and from 1764-66 traveled with his pupil, mostly in France. On returning home to Kirkcaldy Smith was elected fellow of the Royal Society of London and he devoted much of the next ten years to his magnum opus. The Wealth of Nations was published on March 9, 1776. It was written for the average educated individual of the 18th century rather than for specialists and mathematicians. There are three main concepts that Adam Smith expands upon in this work that forms the foundation of free market economics: division of labour, pursuit of self interest, and freedom of trade. As for Smith?s characteristics and personal views, not much is known beyond what can be deduced from his published works. Shortly before his death, Smith had nearly all his manuscripts destroyed. In his last years he seemed to have been planning two major treatises, one on the theory and history of law and one on the sciences and arts.
Adam Smith, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, (London: 1776), 190-91, 235-37.
Adam Smith was a philosopher whose political philosophies was based off of economics. He believed to some extent that there should be a redistribution of wealth, but at the same time there should be a limit to government interference in economy. He wanted the state to end politics that favor industry over agriculture or vice versa, and that business should be left to the business people. He also believed that the government cannot make people virtuous with laws, and that the state should not promote religion or
Smith, Adam. 1981 [1776]. An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Indianapolis, Indiana: Liberty Press.
Adam Smith was a man of many achievements. As a Scottish philosopher and political economist he became famous by his classical and influential books. In 1759 he wrote a book called “The Theory of Mortal Sentiments”and in 1775 he wrote another called “An Inquiry to the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”. Known as the “father of modern economics” Adam Smith has greatly influenced society. Adam Smith’s history impacted the way that our society is today. Adam’s childhood, environment, education and events throughout his life contributed to the way that we view society. With Adam’s theories and great works he molded a pathway to different stand points on the public and its society. Among his great works are the wealth of nations and inquiry to the nature and causes of the wealth of nations alongside the theory Adam named the invisible hand. Adam also thought about the public from an economic and political stand point. Due to factors that influenced Adam’s early life, he was able to learn from those before him to become the great economist, politician, and philosopher that he was. This way, even though Adam Smith lived during the time of the scientific revolution his words of wisdom in politics and the economy are still used today in the public.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his work Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, gives his opinion on the topic of progression and how it has historically developed man from his natural state into a player in today’s civilized societies, including the economic structure and inequality that is present. Though, Adam Smith, based on his findings which he delineates in his works, Wealth of Nations, Theory of Moral Sentiments, and Lectures on Jurisprudence, would take issue with Rousseau’s philosophy on several accounts. In the philosophical spectrum of Hobbes to Rousseau in the discussion of man in his natural state, Smith falls in the middle, as he tends to agree and disagree with both philosophers on various aspects of the debate. Following a close reading of the text, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Smith would be very critical of Rousseau and the ideas he expresses.
In The Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin recounts the many paramount experiences throughout his life that shaped him into great American figure he was known to be. On the opening page, Franklin reveals the book’s epistolary format by writing, “Dear Son,” going on to admit that he’s made some mistakes in the past and to recollect that past is a way to relive it. By divulging his desire to “change some sinister Accidents & Events” (Franklin 3) the author indicates how important it is for his son to observe as he amends his mistakes. Pride, virtue and vanity play a pivotal role in Benjamin Franklin’s life and the way he portrays himself to others. Instances occur where the author is shown gloating about his great accomplishments and he puts emphasis on his need to live a virtuous and morally perfect life. Throughout his story, Benjamin Franklin tells his son of his many virtuous acts and momentous achievements, motivating the question as to whether he seeks his own approval more so than the approval of his peers.
Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. 4th Edition. Edited by R.H. Campbell and A.S. Skinner. 1776. Reprint, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979.
However, it is known that his baptism occurred on June, 1723 (Adam Smith: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, 2008) (Adam Smith, 2014). Adam Smith was raised by his mother alone, because his father had died a few months before his birth. At the age of fourteen Smith attended the University of Glasgow and then went on to Oxford in 1740. After completing school he became a teacher and then a tutor. In 1759, while Smith was still teaching, he wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Adam Smith: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, 2008) (Adam Smith, 2014). Later in his life, Smith became a tutor for the young Duke of Buccleuch and travelled in France and Switzerland. In 1766 Adam Smith retired and returned to Scotland. While he was there, he wrote the book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations which is also known as The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, 2008). This book was not all of Adam Smith’s ideas. He was just the first person to get them all together and make them into a book (Smith, 2014). The book became influential in the United States. 1776 was not only the year that Adam Smith’s book was published, it is
"Adam Smith." Adam Smith. Library of Economics and Liberty, 2008. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. .
Smith was heavily influenced by his mentor, Francis Hutcheson, and his friend, David Hume. Apparently, Smith was almost expelled from Oxford for having Hume's work in his room (Heilbronner, 1999). And Smith's A Theory of Moral Sentiments is a rework of “Hutcheson's theory of a moral sense” (Herman, 2001). Heilbronner writes about The Wealth of Nations that “there is a long line of observers before Smith who had approached his understanding of the world: Locke, Steuart, Mandeville, Petty, Cantillion, Turgot, not to mention Quesnay and Hume again. Smith took from all of them: there are over a hundred authors mentioned by name in his treatise...The Wealth of Nations is not a wholly original book” (1999). Rima disagrees to some extent saying that it “contains remarkably few references to the writings of other authers and that Smith was perhaps less scholarly in...
wrote a pamphlet to the people in England and told about all the good things
Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Ed. Edwin Cannan. 1904 ed. London: Methuen, 1776. Library of Economics and Liberty. Web. 4 May 2014. .
Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of nations as a result of some eighteen years of
Smith's formulation transcends a purely descriptive account of the transformations that shook eighteenth-century Europe. A powerful normative theory about the emancipatory character of market systems lies at the heart of Wealth of Nations. These markets constitute "the system of natural liberty" because they shatter traditional hierarchies, exclusions, and privileges.2 Unlike mercantilism and other alternative mechanisms of economic coordination, markets are based on the spontaneous and free expression of individual preferences. Rather than change, even repress, human nature to accord with an abstract bundle of values, market economies accept the propensities of humankind and are attentive to their character. They recognize and value its inclinations; not only human reason but the full panoply of individual aspirations and needs.3 Thus, for Smith, markets give full expression to individual, economic liberty.
Adam Smith, is known as the Father of economics, Capitalism and advocate of free market also known as laissez-faire. His theory of invisible hand of free enterprise and his 1776 Wealth of Nations is what he is most admired for, also the canons of taxation, labour theory of value, ...