Adam Smith

'Sympathetic Exchange,' Adam Smith and Punishment

by Eric Miller

Ratio Juris, Vol. 9, No. 182, 1996

Adam Smith says relatively little about justice and punishment in the Theory of Moral Sentiments. What he does say... more Adam Smith says relatively little about justice and punishment in the Theory of Moral Sentiments. What he does say reveals that Smith viewed morality as dynamic, almost economic exchange.  Exposing the transactional nature of his theory of morality not only the operation of sympathy and moral judgment, but allows us to see a much closer link between the Theory of Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations. Much remains to be said about this, as about his theory of justice. However, I do believe that to view Smith's moral theory from an "economic" perspective as a system of "sympathetic exchange" enables a more fruitful and cohesive account to be given of all aspects of his work, moral, economic and jurisprudential.

Greed and the Crisis

by Antti Kauppinen

Public lecture given at the Policy Institute, Trinity College Dublin, May 10, 2012.

Is the global economic crisis the result of a moral crisis? Yes, in part. If we distinguish between prudence or... more Is the global economic crisis the result of a moral crisis? Yes, in part. If we distinguish between prudence or healthy pursuit of self-interest and greed or excessive pursuit of material self-interest, untempered by what is due to others, and look at how the crisis came about, we can see that institutional and individual greed has indeed contributed to the problems we're facing. Had institutions and individuals constrained their maximization of profit in accordance with their proper social function and the requirements of fair competition, many ill-advised risks would have remained untaken. In the final section, I make a few proposals as to how to tame the daughters of avarice.

Commerce and Corruption: Rousseau's Diagnosis and Adam Smith's Cure

by Ryan Patrick Hanley

Enlightened Nation Building: The "Science of the Legislator" in Adam Smith and Rousseau

by Ryan Patrick Hanley

Empire at Birth

by David Cohen

In this paper I show how America's Founding Fathers viewed the newly independent United States of America as a... more In this paper I show how America's Founding Fathers viewed the newly independent United States of America as a potential empire from the beginning. It begins with showing how George Washington early career as a surveyor was linked to land speculation in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It shows how his service in the French and Indian War resulted in his obtaining and managing land bounties in the upper reaches of the Ohio River that were awarded to veterans of that war. He took offense at the Proclamation of 1763 in which the British government restricted settlement west of a line drawn down the continental divide in the Appalachian Mountains. The paper also explains the various land speculation projects of Benjamin Franklin and his Loyalist son William Franklin. Both Jefferson and Madison were in favor of what Jefferson called an "Empire of Liberty." Madison, in particular, challenged the accepted wisdom of thinkers such as Monteaquieu, who believed that republics had to be small in size. Finally, I argue that Alexander Hamilton had his own vision of an American Empire, based on industry as well as agriculture. This was the reasoning behind his policies as Secretary of Treasury in regard to the assumption of state debt, the chartering of the Bank of the United States, and his Report on Manufactures. However, unlike Adam Smith, Hamilton believed in federal incentives to encourage industrial and transportation development as well as protective tariffs, rather than free trade.

A Unified Approach to the Organization of Cognitive Labor

by Rogier De Langhe

This paper received the PSA Graduate Student Essay Award 2009; to appear in Philosophy of Science

Un punto de inflexión en el concepto de Justicia: de Adam Smith a John Stuart Mill (ESTRELLA TRINCADO AZNAR)

by Las Torres de Lucca Revista Internacional de Filosofía Política

Los economistas clásicos, incluidos John Stuart Mill, basaron sus teorías en el sistema de Adam Smith. En algún... more Los economistas clásicos, incluidos John Stuart Mill, basaron sus teorías en el sistema de Adam Smith. En algún momento, lo calificaron como una teoría utilitarista. Sin embargo, Smith no era utilitarista, tal vez incluso anti-utilitarista. Una de las más asombrosas diferencias entre la economía clásica y la teoría de Smith radica en su concepto de justicia. La economía clásica se basa en un concepto utilitario. Smith critica el concepto de justicia utilitarista. Al ser la utilidad un asunto subjetivo, a los economistas clásicos les resulta más difícil establecer los límites a la intervención estatal que a Smith. Este trabajo compara el concepto de justicia de Smith y de John Stuart Mill cuando se ocupan de la tenencia de la tierra. Mill sostiene que no se puede decir propiamente que la sociedad deba nada a los pobres. Sin embargo, no argumentando a partir de los derechos abstractos, sino desde la "utilidad" entendida en su sentido más amplio, Mill defendió la nacionalización de la tierra. Mill no pudo establecer ningún límite a la intervención estatal. Por el contrario, Smith defendió que la justicia no es un concepto utilitario. En este caso, los límites a la intervención son más fáciles de trazar.

On Ethics and Economics

by Uday Chandra

Winner of the 2005 Baumann Prize, Grinnell College (USA)

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
—Oliver Goldsmith,... more Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
—Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village (1770)

Echoing Goldsmith’s 18th-century lament on the ills of modern industrial society, noneconomists frequently bemoan and berate modern economics’ neglect of a wide range of ethical concerns. This criticism is bolstered by the evidence that a standard microeconomics text for undergraduates such as Hal Varian’s book does not even use the word “ethics” anywhere. Even when “bads” are discussed, they are defined as commodities that the “consumer doesn’t like” (Varian 1996: 41). Similarly, utility is interpreted as a “way to describe [consumer] preferences” (Varian 1996: 54).

These instances of discord between ethics and economics, however, obscure the fact that there exists a multifaceted historical relationship between ethical and economic ideas. Aristotelian ideas of eudaimonia (human flourishing) and justice in economic activities dominated the Western intellectual environment until the Enlightenment, stressing the complementarities between the ethical and economic realms. Enlightenment scholars, notably Adam Smith, sought to supplant the old Aristotelian paradigm with a new relationship between ethics and economics. However, the 20th-century ascendancy of neoclassical economics, with its penchant for mathematical models and “scientific” tools, has meant the neglect of both Aristotelian and Smithian ethics. Although Amartya Sen’s ethical
concerns have reintroduced Aristotelian ideas into modern economics without discarding basic Smithian values, Sen’s challenge to neoclassical thinking may itself be inadequate in the contemporary context. This paper analyzes the linkages between ethics and economics in the writings of Aristotle, Smith and Sen, and then provides an alternative paradigm for addressing ethical or normative concerns within contemporary economics.

The Scottish Enlightenment and the politics of Abolition

by Glen Doris

PhD Thesis, History, Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies. University of Aberdeen. Successfully examined 2011.

Available through the University of Aberdeen library.

This thesis examines the relationship between Scottish Enlightenment philosophy and Abolitionist activism. This work... more This thesis examines the relationship between Scottish Enlightenment philosophy and Abolitionist activism. This work asserts that Scottish philosophers opposed legislative Abolition, and that Henry Dundas’s ‘gradual’ amendment to Wilberforce’s 1792 Slave Trade bill was partly motivated by fear of radical change. This amendment has been acknowledged by many as the reason the Slave Trade was allowed to continue, despite public disapprobation, until 1807. First, by examining the writings of those Scottish Enlightenment thinkers critical of slavery, this work demonstrates that their ideas were largely theoretical and lacked engagement with the problem of slavery in British society. Second, in examining why, when their writings against slavery have been so lauded, they made so little a direct contribution to the Abolitionist movement, this thesis explores the Scottish Enlightenment theory of spontaneous order in the generation of social institutions. Drawing upon the warnings of some of these Scottish literati, this thesis will argue that their belief in spontaneous order encouraged them to view any attempt at altering social structures (such as the Slave Trade) through legislation as dangerous innovations that should be opposed by enlightened thinkers and politicians. This thesis next examines the parliamentary debates surrounding the 1792 Abolition bill, highlighting the similarities between the Scottish Enlightenment polemic against radical change and the arguments of those opposing Wilberforce’s Slave Trade bill. MPs embraced Dundas’ gradual Abolition idea despite petitions in support of the original bill signed by their constituents, the views of whom were considered secondary to their own judgement on such matters. That the 1792 failure of Abolition was not due to a denial of the principle of ending slavery but a rejection of abrupt change demonstrates that the Scottish Enlightenment, through the agency of Dundas, encouraged delaying the abolition of the Slave Trade for fifteen years.

Views on International Law and International Relations in Adam Smith's Lectures on Jurisprudence

by Nicolas Hachez

This article aims to analyze and interpret the views on international relations and international law expressed in... more This article aims to analyze and interpret the views on international relations and international law expressed in Adam Smith's little studied Lectures on Jurisprudence, in connection with the works of Grotius, Hobbes and Pufendorf. In order to do so, the article first tries to unravel Smith's account of the formation of society and government in domestic orders, understood as a complex intertwinement of human and economic factors. The article then goes on to analyze Smith's stated reasons why the seemingly universal human and economic processes leading to the formation of domestic societies and governments are failing when they are to apply in the international order. Finally, this article explores Smith's views on the idiosyncratic rules governing international relations, i.e. the Law of Nations. The conclusion of the article then attempts to formulate insights for a more harmonious international society based on Smith's premises.

Sentimentalism (International Encyclopedia of Ethics)

by Antti Kauppinen

The final, approved version. (Special thanks to associate editor Sarah Stroud for many useful questions and suggestions, which significantly improved the paper.)

Sentimentalism comes in many varieties: explanatory sentimentalism, judgment sentimentalism, metaphysical... more Sentimentalism comes in many varieties: explanatory sentimentalism, judgment sentimentalism, metaphysical sentimentalism, and epistemic sentimentalism. This encyclopedia entry gives a brief overview of the positions and main arguments pro and con.

"Adam Smith's Solution to the Paradox of Tragedy"

by Arby Ted Siraki

in _The Philosophy of Adam Smith: Essays Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of The Theory of Moral Sentiments_. London: Routledge, 2010. 213-230.

[This is a copy of the proof; I'll upload a clean copy when I get the chance]

The paradox of tragedy--that is, why spectators derive pleasure from viewing distressing scenes--occupied the thoughts... more The paradox of tragedy--that is, why spectators derive pleasure from viewing distressing scenes--occupied the thoughts of many eighteenth-century theorists. Adam Smith, however, seems to have ignored this topic. Given his interest in aesthetic and theatrical matters, it does seem odd that Smith did not contribute at all to this burning eighteenth-century debate. Despite this, I argue that we do have Smith’s solution to the problem of tragedy, but not explicitly stated: we must turn to The Theory of Moral Sentiments and construct one (like Smith, Thomas Hobbes never wrote directly on tragedy, but this has not prevented posterity from constructing a “Hobbesian” tragic theory). This paper describes Smith’s solution to the problem and situates it in the context of the eighteenth-century debate.

From Adam Smith to the dynamics of the profit rate

by paul cockshott

Paper on how to predict the rate of profit in countries using classical political economy Paper on how to predict the rate of profit in countries using classical political economy

Smith on Sympathy and Propriety

by Warren Herold

This is a draft of the fourth chapter of my dissertation. It's very much a work in progress. Comments welcome!

Genius versus Capital: Eighteenth-Century Theories of Genius and Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, MLQ, 1994

by Paul Trolander

2011 “A Remarkably Mute Theory” and the Multivocity of Adam Smith”

by Byron Kaldis

Proceedings of the Adam Smith & the Scottish Enlightenment International Conference, University of Athens, Greece

Adam Smith against Abolition: The Use of Smith's Ideology of Political Change to Thwart the Abolition of the Slave Trade in Parliament

by Glen Doris

Presented at the Annual conference for the Eighteenth Century Scottish Studies Society, 2011.

Currently in peer review for publication. Contact the author for a copy.

Adam Smith has been lauded as a friend of the Abolition of Slavery due to his widely regarded criticisms in The Wealth... more Adam Smith has been lauded as a friend of the Abolition of Slavery due to his widely regarded criticisms in The Wealth of Nations, however his expressions of political conservatism added to the 1790 edition of Theory of Moral Sentiments cast doubts on his approbation of Abolitionism. By examining Smith’s idea of social change and how his words were used against the Abolitionists in the 1792 Parliamentary debates, this article questions whether Smith can truly be an antislavery thinker. By comparing Smith’s warnings against radical social change and the arguments used by Wilberforce’s opponents to thwart the popularly-supported Slave Trade bill in parliament, it is argued that Smith contributed to the continuance of the Slave Trade for a further fifteen years.

Chapter one of the History before Rational Decision Making: the Pamphleteers and sources of harmonizing interests

by Nima Madjzubi

First Chapter from Master's Thesis on History of Rational Decision Research, from Adam Smith for the First Experiments.

The first chapter explores the writings of Smith, Bentham and Malthus to detect versions of the economic man, their... more The first chapter explores the writings of Smith, Bentham and Malthus to detect versions of the economic man, their nature and the reason to conceive of them as such.

Adam Smith's bourgeois virtues under competition

by Thomas Wells

Co-authored with J.J. Graafland. Forthcoming in Business Ethics Quarterly

Whether or not capitalism is compatible with ethics is a long standing dispute. We take up an approach to virtue... more Whether or not capitalism is compatible with ethics is a long standing dispute. We take up an approach to virtue ethics inspired by Adam Smith and consider how market competition influences the virtues most associated with modern commercial society. Up to a point, competition nurtures and supports such virtues as prudence, temperance, civility, industriousness and honesty. But there are also various mechanisms by which competition can have deleterious effects on the institutions and incentives necessary for sustaining even these most commercially friendly of virtues. It is often supposed that if competitive markets are good, more competition must always be better. However, in the long run competition enhancing policies that neglect the nurturing and support of the bourgeois virtues may undermine the continued flourishing of modern commercial society.

The Constitution of the Moral Individual in Theories of Market Relations

by Chris Clarke

Working Paper presented at BISA 2009

The global economic crisis has necessitated renewed critical reflection on dominant understandings of economy and... more The global economic crisis has necessitated renewed critical reflection on dominant understandings of economy and society, not least in much contemporary IPE scholarship which enjoys the intellectual space to theorise market relations in their social context and in a reflexive manner. Utilising this intellectual space to reflect upon theories of market relations themselves, this paper argues that in order to integrate a sociological perspective into IPE it is crucial for scholars to focus attention on the constitution of the moral individual in understandings of market relations. In so doing it builds on the political economy and moral philosophy of Adam Smith. Specifically, it points to some of the key ‘mythologies’ that surround Smith’s work in order to show how once these are dispelled he can be said to provide something of a sociological perspective for IPE and to show how the dominant misinterpretations of his work are actually telling in terms of what they reveal about contemporary attempts to understand market relations. This paper then indicates some notable areas of IPE research that take up the task, from a Smithian perspective, of exploring shifting understandings relating to the constitution of the moral individual with reference to the recent economic crisis.