The Oxford Handbook of Adam Smith

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 ; Adam Smith: Outline of Life, Times, and Legacy ; PART ONE: ADAM SMITH: HERITAGE AND CONTEMPORARIES ; 1. Adam Smith: A Biographer's Reflections ; 2. Newtonianism and Adam Smith ; 3. Adam Smith and Rousseau: Enlightenment and counter-Enlightenment ; 4. Adam Smith and Early Modern Thought ; PART TWO: ADAM SMITH ON LANGUAGE, ART AND CULTURE ; 5. Adam Smith's Aesthetics ; 6. Adam Smith as Critic ; 7. Adam Smith: History and Poetics ; 8. Adam Smith on Language and Rhetoric: The Ethics of Style, Character, and Propriety ; PART THREE: ADAM SMITH AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY ; 9. Adam Smith: The Sympathetic Process and the Origin and Function of Conscience ; 10. Adam Smith and the Limits of Sympathy ; 11. Adam Smith and Virtue ; 12. Adam Smith and Self-Interest ; PART FOUR: ADAM SMITH AND ECONOMICS ; 13. Adam Smith on Labour and Capital ; 14. Adam Smith on Value and Prices ; 15. Adam Smith on Money, Banking, and the Price Level ; 16. Commercial Relations: from Adam Smith to Field Experiments ; PART FIVE: ADAM SMITH ON HISTORY AND POLITICS ; 17. Adam Smith: Theorist of Corruption ; 18. Adam Smith and the State: Language and Reform ; 19. Adam Smith and the Law ; 20. Adam Smith on Empire and International Relations ; PART SIX: ADAM SMITH ON SOCIAL RELATIONS ; 21. Adam Smith, Civility, and Civil Society ; 22. Adam Smith on Religion ; 23. Adam Smith and Equality ; 24. Adam Smith and Women ; PART SEVEN; ADAM SMITH: LEGACY AND INFLUENCE ; 25. Adam Smith and Marx ; 26. Adam Smith and the New Right ; 27. Adam Smith: Methods, Morals and Markets ; 28. The Contemporary Relevance of Adam Smith