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e. Adam Smith FRS FRSE FRSA (baptised 16 June [ O.S. 5 June] 1723 [1] – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish [a] economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. [3] Seen by some as "The Father of Economics" [4] or "The Father of Capitalism", [5] he wrote two classic ...
- Political philosophy, ethics, economics
- Classical liberalism
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- Glasgow
Adam Smith was the son by the second marriage of Adam Smith, the comptroller of customs at Kirkcaldy, Scotland, a small (population 1,500) but thriving fishing village near Edinburgh, and Margaret Douglas, daughter of a substantial landowner. Smith’s father died five months before his birth, so he was brought up by his mother.
Where was Adam Smith educated?
Adam Smith received his elementary education at a two-room “burgh” school in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, before entering Glasgow College at age 14 in 1737. Graduating in 1740, Smith won a scholarship (the Snell Exhibition) to study at Balliol College, Oxford, which he attended for six years.
What was Adam Smith’s first job?
Returning to his home in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, in 1746 after six years of study at Oxford, Adam Smith cast about for suitable employment and through family connections received an opportunity to present a course of public lectures in Edinburgh on rhetoric and belles lettres.
What is Adam Smith best known for?
Much more is known about Adam Smith’s thought than about his life. He was the son by second marriage of Adam Smith, comptroller of customs at Kirkcaldy, a small (population 1,500) but thriving fishing village near Edinburgh, and Margaret Douglas, daughter of a substantial landowner. Of Smith’s childhood nothing is known other than that he received his elementary schooling in Kirkcaldy and that at the age of four years he was said to have been carried off by gypsies. Pursuit was mounted, and young Adam was abandoned by his captors. “He would have made, I fear, a poor gipsy,” commented the Scottish journalist John Rae (1845–1915), Smith’s principal biographer.
At the age of 14, in 1737, Smith entered the University of Glasgow, already remarkable as a centre of what was to become known as the Scottish Enlightenment. There he was deeply influenced by Francis Hutcheson, a famous professor of moral philosophy from whose economic and philosophical views he was later to diverge but whose magnetic character seems to have been a main shaping force in Smith’s development. Graduating in 1740, Smith won a scholarship (the Snell Exhibition) and traveled on horseback to Oxford, where he stayed at Balliol College. Compared with the stimulating atmosphere of Glasgow, Oxford was an educational desert. His years there were spent largely in self-education, from which Smith obtained a firm grasp of both classical and contemporary philosophy.
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Smith then entered upon a period of extraordinary creativity, combined with a social and intellectual life that he afterward described as “by far the happiest, and most honourable period of my life.” During the week he lectured daily from 7:30 to 8:30 am and again thrice weekly from 11 am to noon, to classes of up to 90 students, aged 14 to 16. (Although his lectures were presented in English rather than in Latin, following the precedent of Hutcheson, the level of sophistication for so young an audience strikes one today as extraordinarily demanding.) Afternoons were occupied with university affairs in which Smith played an active role, being elected dean of faculty in 1758; his evenings were spent in the stimulating company of Glasgow society.
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Among his wide circle of acquaintances were not only members of the aristocracy, many connected with the government, but also a range of intellectual and scientific figures that included Joseph Black, a pioneer in the field of chemistry; James Watt, later of steam-engine fame; Robert Foulis, a distinguished printer and publisher and subsequent founder of the first British Academy of Design; and, not least, the philosopher David Hume, a lifelong friend whom Smith had met in Edinburgh. Smith was also introduced during these years to the company of the great merchants who were carrying on the colonial trade that had opened to Scotland following its union with England in 1707. One of them, Andrew Cochrane, had been a provost of Glasgow and had founded the famous Political Economy Club. From Cochrane and his fellow merchants Smith undoubtedly acquired the detailed information concerning trade and business that was to give such a sense of the real world to The Wealth of Nations.
Sep 30, 2023 · Learn about the life and work of Adam Smith, the 18th-century Scottish economist who is considered the father of modern economics. Discover his key concepts, such as the invisible hand, the wealth of nations, and the concept of GDP. Explore his early life, notable achievements, and influence on classical economics.
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Dec 1, 2023 · Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish philosopher, economist, and leading Enlightenment figure. In The Wealth of Nations, he advocates free trade and limited interference in markets by governments, for which he is seen as the founder of liberal economics. Regarded incorrectly as a champion of laissez-faire economics, Smith supported state ...
- Mark Cartwright
- What was Adam Smith famous for?Adam Smith is famous as a philosopher and economic theorist who proposed that states can create more wealth by not inhibiting trade and commerce. H...
- What is Adam Smith's theory?Adam Smith proposed a labour theory of value, where something has two values: its use value and its exchange value. The exchange value is based on...
- Did Adam Smith believe in laissez-faire economics?Adam Smith would not have wholly agreed with laissez-faire economics. He did believe in minimising state intervention in trade and commerce but not...
Aug 9, 2023 · Learn about the life and work of Adam Smith, the Scottish social philosopher and political economist who wrote 'The Wealth of Nations' and achieved the first comprehensive system of political economy. Find out his early years, main beliefs, professional life, books, death, and more.
Learn about the life and work of Adam Smith, the Scottish philosopher and economist who wrote An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, one of the most influential books ever written on free trade and human nature. Discover how he analysed the economy, the social order, and the psychology of human behaviour in his books and his Wealth of Nations.
Adam Smith. 1723-1790. W ith The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith installed himself as the leading expositor of economic thought. Currents of Adam Smith run through the works published by David Ricardo and Karl Marx in the nineteenth century, and by John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman in the twentieth. Adam Smith was born in a small village in ...
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