OPPapers.com

Adam Smith

Adam Smith (baptized June 5, 1723 O.S. / June 16 N.S. – July 17, 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneering political economist. One of the key figures of the intellectual movement known as the Scottish Enlightenment, he is known primarily as the author of two treatises: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter was one of the earliest attempts to systematically study the historical development of industry and commerce in Europe, as well as a sustained attack on the doctrines of mercantilism. Smith's work helped to create the modern academic discipline of economics and provided one of the best-known intellectual rationales for free trade, capitalism, and libertarianism.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Biography
o 1.1 Education
o 1.2 Career in Edinburgh and Glasgow
o 1.3 Tour of France
o 1.4 Later years
o 1.5 Personal character and views
* 2 Works
* 3 'The "Adam Smith-Problem"
* 4 Influence
* 5 Major works
* 6 References
* 7 See also
* 8 Bibliography
* 9 External links

[edit] Biography

Smith was a son of the controller of the customs at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. The exact date of Smith's birth is unknown, but he was baptized at Kirkcaldy on June 5, 1723, his father having died some six months previously. At around the age of 4, he was kidnapped by a band of Gypsies, but he was quickly rescued by his uncle and returned to his mother. Smith's biographer, John Rae, commented wryly that he feared Smith would have made "a poor Gypsy."[citation needed] There is no record of Smith having had any siblings.

[edit] Education

At the age of fifteen, Smith entered the University of Glasgow, where he studied moral philosophy under "the never-to-be-forgotten" (as Smith called him) Francis Hutcheson. Here Smith developed his strong passion for liberty, reason, and free speech. In 1740...