Adam Smith, the 18th-century philosopher who shaped modern prosperity, was not merely an economist but a moral scientist whose primary concern was the well-being of the poor; he subverted conventional left-right distinctions by combining the left's concern for the poor with the right's belief in free markets as the most efficient means to achieve that well-being.
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The Real Adam Smith: Economist and PhilosopherIndexed:
There's a lot more to Adam Smith than The Wealth of Nations. Smith considered himself a "moral scientist." He cared deeply about right and wrong, and he cared deeply about what the actual evidence said about the pursuit of moral good. Far from the heartless stereotype of modern media, economics, as we understand it, came from a place of profound compassion and concern backed by scientific understanding.
No one thinker has been more important to the development of today's widespread prosperity than the revolutionary 18th century philosopher Adam Smith.
Most people today remember only half of what makes him important, his economic [music] principles.
They associate Adam Smith with free markets, but few think of him as the great moral philosopher that he was.
We need to put both sides of the man together to find the real Adam Smith.
Smith's primary concern as a political economist and a moral philosopher is the well-being of the poor.
Ryan Hanley is associate professor of political philosophy at Marquette University.
His work concerns the moral aspects of Adam Smith's worldview.
So in many ways Smith subverts our conventional distinction between left and right by sharing with the contemporary left a deep concern for the goods and the well-being of the poor and with the contemporary right a belief that the proper means for achieving this, the most efficient means are in fact free markets.
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