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Adam Smith

This article is about the Scottish economist and philosopher. For other people named Adam Smith, see Adam Smith (disambiguation).

Adam Smith
FRS FRSE FRSA
A portrait of Adam Smith
Posthumous Muir portrait, c. 1800
Bornc. 16 June [O.S. c. 5 June] 1723[1]
Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Died17 July 1790(1790-07-17) (aged 67)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Alma mater
Notable work
EraEarly modern period
RegionWestern philosophy
Main interests
Political philosophy, ethics, economics
Notable ideas
Signature
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Adam Smith FRS FRSE FRSA (baptised 16 June [O.S. 5 June] 1723[1] – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish[a] economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment.[3] Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"[4] or "The Father of Capitalism",[5] he wrote two classic works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter, often abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work that treats economics as a comprehensive system and an academic discipline. Smith refuses to explain the distribution of wealth and power in terms of God's will and instead appeals to natural, political, social, economic, legal, environmental and technological factors and the interactions among them. Among other economic theories, the work introduced Smith's idea of absolute advantage.[6]

Smith studied social philosophy at the University of Glasgow and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was one of the first students to benefit from scholarships set up by fellow Scot John Snell. After graduating, he delivered a successful series of public lectures at the University of Edinburgh,[7] leading him to collaborate with David Hume during the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith obtained a professorship at Glasgow, teaching moral philosophy and during this time, wrote and published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In his later life, he took a tutoring position that allowed him to travel throughout Europe, where he met other intellectual leaders of his day.

As a reaction to the common policy of protecting national markets and merchants through minimizing imports and maximizing exports, what came to be known as mercantilism, Smith laid the foundations of classical free market economic theory. The Wealth of Nations was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics. In this and other works, he developed the concept of division of labour and expounded upon how rational self-interest and competition can lead to economic prosperity. Smith was controversial in his day and his general approach and writing style were often satirised by writers such as Horace Walpole.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Adam Smith (1723–1790)". BBC. Archived from the original on 15 March 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2019. Adam Smith's exact date of birth is unknown, but he was baptised on 5 June 1723.
  2. ^ Williams, Gwydion M. (2000). Adam Smith, Wealth Without Nations. London: Athol Books. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-85034-084-6. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  3. ^ "BBC – History – Scottish History". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 April 2001. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  4. ^ —Brown, Vivienne (5 December 2008). "Mere Inventions of the Imagination': A Survey of Recent Literature on Adam Smith". Cambridge University Press. 13 (2): 281–312. doi:10.1017/S0266267100004521. ISSN 0266-2671. S2CID 145093382. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
    —Berry, Christopher J. (2018). Adam Smith Very Short Introductions Series. Oxford University Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-19-878445-6. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
    —Sharma, Rakesh. "Adam Smith: The Father of Economics". Investopedia. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  5. ^ —"Adam Smith: Father of Capitalism". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
    —Bassiry, G. R.; Jones, Marc (1993). "Adam Smith and the ethics of contemporary capitalism". Journal of Business Ethics. 12 (1026): 621–627. doi:10.1007/BF01845899. S2CID 51746709.
    —Newbert, Scott L. (30 November 2017). "Lessons on social enterprise from the father of capitalism: A dialectical analysis of Adam Smith". Academy of Management Journal. 2016 (1): 12046. doi:10.5465/ambpp.2016.12046abstract. ISSN 2151-6561.
    —Rasmussen, Dennis C. (2017). The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought. Princeton University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4008-8846-7.
  6. ^ "Absolute Advantage – Ability to Produce More than Anyone Else". Corporate Finance Institute. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Adam Smith: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland". www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  8. ^ John, McMurray (19 March 2017). "Capitalism's 'Founding Father' Often Quoted, Frequently Misconstrued". Investor's Business Daily. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2019.


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