ADAM SMITH’S ENLIGHTENED WORLD

Commerce, morality, equality, the rule of law, and the role of government… Welcome to the world of Adam Smith.

What can we learn about our own world from Smith? Join the workers in an 18th century pin factory to find out more…

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Speaking of Smith

Latest

Adam Smith and Angels with Dirty Faces

Ali Motamedi and Daniel B. Klein for AdamSmithWorks Motamedi and Klein provide a character study of Adam Smith's example of a bigoted Roman Catholic who, overcome by compassion, saves Protestants instead of killing them during the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572. Drawing on Smith, the authors suggest that virtue involves a dynamic between self-approbation and upward vitality like that seen in the Roman Catholic who overcomes his bigotry. "...our estimation of a person’s conduct or character involves a consideration of the person’s own self-approbation. When a person does not fully approve of his own good actions, that counts against him." Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Byron Carson on Malaria's Collective Action Problem

April 19, 2024

Great Antidote Extras: David Boaz on Liberalism and the Continuing Progress of the Enlightenment

Janet Bufton for AdamSmithWorks "Materially, people in the United States are much better off. But they’ve also progressed in ways important to liberalism, which stands against racism, sexism, antisemitism, and laws oppressing gay people."

The Great Antidote: James Otteson on What Adam Smith Knew

March 18, 2022

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An Animal That Trades

A five-part short video series on the life and contemporary relevance of Adam Smith.

Learn.

Smith and Aristotle on Owning and Giving

Richard Gunderman for AdamSmithWorks April 10, 2024 Any social system that foments greed at the expense of the generosity is ruining individual human lives and those individuals' communities.

What’s Natural about Adam Smith’s Natural Liberty?

Daniel B. Klein and Erik W. Matson for AdamSmithWorks The first essay in our NEW series takes a close look at Adam Smith's language and the implications of those choices for understanding him and the world he is describing. "Smith often said simply “liberty” but sometimes “natural liberty.” Why did Smith sometimes say “natural liberty”? Maybe he wanted to highlight its “naturalness.” That prompts the question: What is “natural” about Smith’s “natural liberty”?" March 23, 2022

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Division of Labor Toolkit

Tackling the division of labor in your classroom? Let us help you start with Adam Smith.

Teaching through the Year: Seasonal Readings and Activities

We're making it easy for you to find seasonally relevant ways to bring Adam Smith and his ideas into your classroom.

Activity: Commerce and care

A comic strip to spark discussion of Adam Smith's "the butcher, the brewer, and the baker", and of how our care for each other is affected by money.

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The Theory of Moral Sentiments

The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith’s first and in his own mind most important work, outlines his view of proper conduct and the institutions and sentiments that make men virtuous. He develops his doctrine of the impartial spectator, whose hypothetical disinterested judgment we use to distinguish right from wrong in any given situation.

Scholars’ Portal

How to Join the Portal

The ASW Scholars’ Portal is an online work-and-gathering space for Smith scholars. Its features include:

  • ability to upload working papers for comment, and to comment on others' papers
  • online open-discussion forum
  • ability to create and contribute to collaborative documents such as reading lists, annotated bibliographies, and a "Smithopaedia"
To be considered for access to the portal, please contact us with your ideas and CV at awillis@libertyfund.org.