Adam Smith "Father of Economics"
Final Paper | Dr. Kang: History of Economic Thought | | | | Brian Witt | | |
Brian Witt
Dr. Kang MBE 330.01
Final Paper
Adam Smith: “The Father of Economics”
Adam Smith was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economics. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment and modern economics, Smith is an author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nation, now known to be called The Wealth of Nations. Smith is commonly cited as the father of modern economics.
Smith studied moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and Oxford University. After graduating, he delivered a successful series of public lectures at Edinburgh, leading him to collaborate with Economist, David Hume, during the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith obtained a professorship at Glasgow teaching moral philosophy. While teaching at Glasgow, Smith published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In his later life, he took a tutoring position that allowed him to travel throughout Europe, where he met other intellectual leaders of his day. Smith would later return home and spent the next 10 years writing The Wealth of Nations, publishing it in 1776. Smith would later die in 1790.
Adam Smith was born in a small village in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, where his widowed mother raised him. He was born to Margaret Douglas at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. His father, also named Adam Smith, was a lawyer, civil servant, and widower who married Margaret Douglas in 1720 and died six months before Smith was born (Bussing-Burks, 2003). Although Smith’s actual birth date is uncertain, his baptism was recorded on June 16, 1723 at Kirkcaldy (Buchan, 2006). Though few events in Smith’s early childhood are unknown, Scottish journalist and Smith’s biographer John Rae recorded that Smith was abducted by gypsies at the age of four and released when others went to rescue him. Smith was closer to his mother, who likely
Brian Witt
Dr. Kang MBE 330.01
Final Paper
Adam Smith: “The Father of Economics”
Adam Smith was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economics. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment and modern economics, Smith is an author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nation, now known to be called The Wealth of Nations. Smith is commonly cited as the father of modern economics.
Smith studied moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and Oxford University. After graduating, he delivered a successful series of public lectures at Edinburgh, leading him to collaborate with Economist, David Hume, during the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith obtained a professorship at Glasgow teaching moral philosophy. While teaching at Glasgow, Smith published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In his later life, he took a tutoring position that allowed him to travel throughout Europe, where he met other intellectual leaders of his day. Smith would later return home and spent the next 10 years writing The Wealth of Nations, publishing it in 1776. Smith would later die in 1790.
Adam Smith was born in a small village in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, where his widowed mother raised him. He was born to Margaret Douglas at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. His father, also named Adam Smith, was a lawyer, civil servant, and widower who married Margaret Douglas in 1720 and died six months before Smith was born (Bussing-Burks, 2003). Although Smith’s actual birth date is uncertain, his baptism was recorded on June 16, 1723 at Kirkcaldy (Buchan, 2006). Though few events in Smith’s early childhood are unknown, Scottish journalist and Smith’s biographer John Rae recorded that Smith was abducted by gypsies at the age of four and released when others went to rescue him. Smith was closer to his mother, who likely
Bibliography: of Adam Smith. London: Pickering & Chatto. Viner, J. (1991). Essays on the Intellectual History of Economics. (D. A. Irvin, Ed.) Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.