Adam Smith 1723 – 1790
Adam Smith was an 18th-century Scottish moral philosopher and political economist, a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, and the founder of modern economics. His 1759 Theory of Moral Sentiments developed an account of morality grounded in sympathy and the impartial spectator. The 1776 Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations argued that the productive division of labour and competitive markets, mediated by the metaphorical invisible hand, generate the wealth of nations more reliably than mercantilist regulation. He held the chair of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and was a friend of David Hume. His political economy shaped the development of modern liberal political thought and continues to be central to debates over markets, regulation, and inequality.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Scottish
- Era
- Modern
- Movements
- Scottish Enlightenment, Enlightenment
Selected quotes
-
Attributed to Adam Smith:
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”
-
Attributed to Adam Smith:
“All for ourselves and nothing for other people seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind.”
-
Attributed to Adam Smith:
“How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him.”
-
Attributed to Adam Smith:
“Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.”
-
Attributed to Adam Smith:
“Defence is of much more importance than opulence.”