Adam Smith

1723-1790 · Scottish · Moral Philosophy, Political Economy, Jurisprudence

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

Adam Smith is remembered as the founder of economics, but he thought of himself as a moral philosopher, and his two great books are one project seen from two sides. The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) asks how creatures as partial and self-loving as we are ever come to judge ourselves and others by an impartial standard. The Wealth of Nations (1776) asks how a society of such creatures, each pursuing his own advantage, produces the ordered abundance of a commercial nation. The bridge between them is his lifelong subject: how order arises without a designer.

Topics Adam Smith addresses

• sympathy
• the impartial spectator
• the man within the breast
• fellow-feeling
• propriety and merit
• the theory of moral sentiments
• conscience as the impartial spectator
• the invisible hand
• self-interest and the butcher, brewer, and baker
• the division of labour
• the pin factory
• the extent of the market
• the system of natural liberty
• the critique of mercantilism
• productive and unproductive labour
• the labour theory of value
• real and nominal price
• the four stages of society
• commercial society
• the corruption of moral sentiments by wealth
• the mental mutilation of the labourer
• public education as a remedy
• the duties of the sovereign
• justice as the pillar of society

Questions to put to Adam Smith

Sympathy and the Impartial Spectator

• What do you mean by sympathy, and how is it different from benevolence?
• How does the impartial spectator work as the basis of conscience?
• How do we learn to judge ourselves by imagining how we appear to others?
• What is propriety, and why does it matter for moral judgment?
• Why can't reason alone tell us what's right and wrong?

The Division of Labour and Commercial Society

• How does the pin factory show the power of the division of labour?
• What do you mean when you say the division of labour is limited by the extent of the market?
• Why does the division of labour make workers stupid and ignorant?
• How should we remedy the mental mutilation that specialized work causes?
• What's the difference between productive and unproductive labour?

Self-Interest and the Invisible Hand

• Why do we get our dinner from the butcher's self-interest rather than his kindness?
• What do you mean by the invisible hand?
• Does the invisible hand guarantee that private greed produces public good?
• How do you answer the charge that the Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations contradict each other?
• When does self-interest fail to promote the public welfare?

The System of Natural Liberty and the Critique of Mercantilism

• What's wrong with the mercantile system of tariffs and monopolies?
• What are the three duties of the sovereign in your system of natural liberty?
• Why isn't the wealth of a nation measured by its stock of gold?
• Are you really arguing for minimal government and laissez-faire?
• Why do you say merchants' proposals for new regulations should be viewed with suspicion?

Justice, Wealth, and the Corruption of Moral Sentiments

• Why is justice the pillar that upholds the whole edifice of society?
• How does the admiration of wealth corrupt our moral sentiments?
• What is the deception of the imagination that drives the poor man's son?
• Should the rich pay more than their proportional share in taxes?
• What's the difference between justice and benevolence in your system?

Converse with Adam Smith on Simposeum. Replies are grounded in Adam Smith's own writing, cited to the page.