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Adam Smith

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Adam Smith was a Scottish philosopher and writer on economics, best known for The Theory of Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations.[1][2] "Adam Smith was born in the small Scottish port town of Kirkcaldy in the county of Fife in 1723."[3]

Early life and education

"His father, also Adam Smith, died before he was born."[3] His father had been comptroller of customs at Kirkcaldy and a writer to the signet, a type of Scottish lawyer.[3] His mother was Margaret Douglas.[4] Smith had a very good education at the Burgh school in Kirkcaldy.[4]

"Smith was accepted into the University of Glasgow in 1737 at the age of 14."[4] There he was taught moral philosophy by Francis Hutcheson, whom he greatly admired,[5] and he especially enjoyed Robert Simson's classes in mathematics and geometry.[5] A Snell Exhibition then paid for him to study at Balliol College, Oxford.[5] According to Craig Smith, Oxford was a big disappointment after the demanding teaching at Glasgow.[5] "Smith returned to Scotland, and his mother’s home in Kirkcaldy, in 1746."[5]

Teacher at Glasgow

Lord Kames arranged for Smith to give a series of public lectures in Edinburgh,[6] on rhetoric and on jurisprudence (the study of law).[6] In 1751 he became Professor of Logic at the University of Glasgow.[6] When the Professor of Moral Philosophy died, Smith moved to that chair.[6] His students included James Boswell and John Millar.[1] In 1759, while a professor at Glasgow, he published his first great book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments.[1] Craig Smith explains that in this book Smith saw morality as something people feel, coming from human emotions rather than reason.[7] The book also contains Smith's famous metaphor of an "invisible hand".[8]

France and the Wealth of Nations

After 13 years at Glasgow, Smith was persuaded to give up his post to become tutor to the Duke of Buccleuch.[1] "Smith spent the years 1764–6 chiefly in France, basing himself in Toulouse and then Paris."[1] There he met leading thinkers, including Voltaire, Turgot and Quesnay.[1] In 1766–7, in London, he prepared a revised third edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments.[1]

In 1768 Smith went back to Scotland and settled in Kirkcaldy,[2] where he began work on the Wealth of Nations. The book was published to great acclaim.[2] It explained that wealth is not gold or silver,[9] and that the division of labour (splitting work into separate tasks) is the cause of the great rise in productivity.[10] His best-known example is a pin factory, where a small group of workers could make 48,000 pins a day.[10] The book soon overtook its only serious rival.[11] The economist Jagdish Bhagwati notes that Smith knew of, and rejected, the idea of using tariffs to force other countries to lower their trade barriers.[12]

"But 1776 also brought a personal blow with the death of Hume."[2] David Hume had become his closest friend in ideas.[5]

Later life

From 1778 to 1790 Smith was one of the Commissioners of Customs for Scotland.[11] He never married.[13] "Smith was elected Rector of Glasgow University."[13] His mother died six years before he did.[4] By 1790 he was in poor health.[13] Most of what he owned passed to David Douglas, who later became a judge as Lord Reston.[13] Craig Smith describes him as modest and a loyal friend.[13]

Legacy

In the later 19th century Smith came to be called the "father of economics".[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  7. ↑ Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  8. ↑ Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  9. ↑ Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  12. ↑ Bhagwati, Jagdish N. (2014). The World Trading System at Risk. Princeton University Press. p. 13. ISBN 9781400861590.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
  14. ↑ Smith, Craig (2020). Adam Smith. Classic Thinkers. Polity Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-1-5095-1823-4.
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