Philosophy › Reason, experience & Enlightenment › The Enlightenment
Adam Smith, moral philosopher and economist
1723–1790· Philosopher· Ethics & how to live
Well documentedSolid records, texts or physical evidence.
Scottish moral philosopher who explained how sympathy shapes our moral judgments and how free markets turn self-interest into shared wealth.
See it on the Philosophy map →The idea
The idea: people pursuing their own gain, under fair rules and competition, end up serving others. A Glasgow professor, Smith first wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759): we judge actions by imagining an 'impartial spectator' watching us. The Wealth of Nations (1776) applied the same observation to trade. He was no cheerleader for business; he warned that meetings of rival traders end in 'a conspiracy against the public.' Main objection: markets can leave the poor behind and ignore costs like pollution.
Why it matters
He founded modern economics and gave capitalism its most quoted defense, while insisting that markets rest on moral habits like trust, fairness and sympathy.
Legacy and sources
Both books survive in editions he revised, plus student notes of his Glasgow lectures found in 1895 and 1958. He had most private papers burned before his death in 1790.
Still debated
The 'Adam Smith problem': does the self-interest of The Wealth of Nations contradict the sympathy of Moral Sentiments? Most scholars now say no, but debate continues.
Inside this (1)
Connections (2)
▸David Hume befriended and influenced Adam Smith, moral philosopher and economistWell documented
The connection
Hume, twelve years older, was Smith's closest friend from about 1750. His essays on money and trade (1752) attacked hoarding gold, and his theory of sympathy fed Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments. Hume praised The Wealth of Nations months before dying, and Smith's warm tribute to the famous unbeliever caused a scandal.
When and how
Edinburgh and Glasgow, 1750–1776, in Scottish Enlightenment clubs such as the Select Society; Hume died in August 1776.
How we know
Their surviving letters; Smith's 1776 letter, published with Hume's autobiography, calling him nearly 'a perfectly wise and virtuous man'; Smith's citations of Hume.
Debates and open questions
How much Smith's economics owes Hume versus the French Physiocrats, and how far Smith shared Hume's religious skepticism; he declined to publish Hume's Dialogues.
▸Adam Smith, moral philosopher and economist wrote The Wealth of NationsWell documented
The connection
Smith built the book from his Glasgow lectures on law and government, then began writing in Toulouse in 1764, 'to pass away the time' while tutoring a young duke; in France he met the economists Quesnay and Turgot. He worked on it for twelve years before publishing.
When and how
France, 1764–66; Kirkcaldy, Scotland, 1767–73; London, 1773–76. Published 9 March 1776 by Strahan and Cadell.
How we know
His July 1764 letter to Hume from Toulouse; an early draft on the division of labor from about 1763; and students' notes of his Glasgow lectures, which already include the pin factory.
Debates and open questions
How much he borrowed from the Physiocrats and Richard Cantillon, and how the book's stress on self-interest fits his earlier ethics of sympathy.