Adam Smith (1721-90) is a thinker with a distinctive perspective on human behaviour and social institutions. He is best known as the author of the An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). Yet his work is name-checked more often than it is read and then typically it is of an uninformed nature; that he is an apologist for capitalism, a forceful promoter of self-interest, a defender of greed and a critic of any 'interference' in market transactions . To offset this caricature, this Handbook provides an informed portrait. Drawing on the expertise of leading Smith scholars from around the world, it reflects the depth and breadth of Smith's intellectual interests. After an introductory outline chapter on Smith's life and times, the volume comprises 28 new essays divided into seven parts. Five sections are devoted to particular themes in Smith's corpus - his views on Language, Art and Culture; his Moral Philosophy; his Economic thought, his discussions of History and Politics and his analyses of Social Relations. These five parts are framed by one that focuses on the immediate and proximate sources of his thought and the final one that recognizes Smith's status as a thinker of world-historical significance - indicating both his posthumous impact and influence and his contemporary resonance. While each chapter is a discrete contribution to scholarship, the Handbook comprises a composite whole to enable the full range of Smith's work to be appreciated.
Preface
Introduction
Christopher J. Berry: Adam Smith: Outline of Life, Times, and Legacy
Part One: Adam Smith: Heritage and Contemporaries
1: Nicholas Phillipson: Adam Smith: A Biographer's Reflections
2: Leonidas Montes: Newtonianism and Adam Smith
3: Dennis C. Rasmussen: Adam Smith and Rousseau: Enlightenment and counter-Enlightenment
4: Christopher J. Berry: Adam Smith and Early Modern Thought
Part Two: Adam Smith on Language, Art and Culture
5: Catherine Labio: Adam Smith's Aesthetics
6: James Chandler: Adam Smith as Critic
7: Michael C. Amrozowicz: Adam Smith: History and Poetics
8: C. Jan Swearingen: Adam Smith on Language and Rhetoric: The Ethics of Style, Character, and Propriety
Part Three: Adam Smith and Moral Philosophy
9: Christel Fricke: Adam Smith: The Sympathetic Process and the Origin and Function of Conscience
10: Duncan Kelly: Adam Smith and the Limits of Sympathy
11: Ryan Patrick Hanley: Adam Smith and Virtue
12: Eugene Heath: Adam Smith and Self-Interest
Part Four: Adam Smith and Economics
13: Tony Aspromourgos: Adam Smith on Labour and Capital
14: Nerio Naldi: Adam Smith on Value and Prices
15: Hugh Rockoff: Adam Smith on Money, Banking, and the Price Level
16: Maria Pia Paganelli: Commercial Relations: from Adam Smith to Field Experiments
Part Five: Adam Smith on History and Politics
17: Spiros Tegos: Adam Smith: Theorist of Corruption
18: David M. Levy & Sandra J. Peart: Adam Smith and the State: Language and Reform
19: Fabrizio Simon: Adam Smith and the Law
20: Edwin van de Haar: Adam Smith on Empire and International Relations
Part Six: Adam Smith on Social Relations
21: Richard Boyd: Adam Smith, Civility, and Civil Society
22: Gavin Kennedy: Adam Smith on Religion
23: Samuel Fleischacker: Adam Smith and Equality
24: Maureen Harkin: Adam Smith and Women
Part Seven; Adam Smith: Legacy and Influence
25: Spencer J. Pack: Adam Smith and Marx
26: Craig Smith: Adam Smith and the New Right
27: Tom Campbell: Adam Smith: Methods, Morals and Markets
28: Amartya Sen: The Contemporary Relevance of Adam Smith