ADAM SMITH’S ENLIGHTENED WORLD

An Animal That Trades

A five-part short video series on the life and contemporary relevance of Adam Smith.

Smith, Tocqueville, and Foucault on the Temptation of Enlightened Despotism

Eric Schliesser for AdamSmithWorks "What Foucault helps us see is that within the liberal tradition as originally articulated by Smith and, later developed by French liberals, including Tocqueville, there is a self-awareness that one-sided and imprudent reliance on claims to exactitude and precision, including in the human sciences, as potentially dangerous to liberty." August 2, 2023

Intellectual Pride and the Limits of Theory

Richard Gunderman for AdamSmithWorks "We are responsible for what we think... And we arrive at our notions about what is true and false not simply by diagramming ideas on a whiteboard, but by seeing them expressed in the lives of others and experiencing firsthand how they play out in our own lives. As such, ideas are not like pieces on a chess board, to be moved about by whim with impunity. To the contrary, they are matters of life and death." September 6, 2023

Division of Labor Toolkit

Tackling the division of labor in your classroom? Let us help you start with Adam Smith.

Teaching through the Year: Seasonal Readings and Activities

We're making it easy for you to find seasonally relevant ways to bring Adam Smith and his ideas into your classroom.

Activity: Commerce and care

A comic strip to spark discussion of Adam Smith's "the butcher, the brewer, and the baker", and of how our care for each other is affected by money.

Virtual Reading Groups

AdamSmithWorks is pleased to offer Virtual Reading Groups designed to gather individuals interested in serious and civil discussion. Our VRGs focus on a particular Smithian topic and a common set of readings will form the basis for our discussions. Each group is facilitated by a professional moderator and is conducted online. Participants also have a private online community in which to engage with one another throughout. Participation is offered at no cost, and there is no need to be an expert on the topic for discussion! The only requirement is that participants be eager to read and engage in conversation. Participants who successfully complete all sessions will receive an e-gift certificate from Amazon.com!

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith’s first and in his own mind most important work, outlines his view of proper conduct and the institutions and sentiments that make men virtuous. He develops his doctrine of the impartial spectator, whose hypothetical disinterested judgment we use to distinguish right from wrong in any given situation.

How to Join the Portal

The ASW Scholars’ Portal is an online work-and-gathering space for Smith scholars. Its features include:

• ability to upload working papers for comment, and to comment on others' papers
• online open-discussion forum
• ability to create and contribute to collaborative documents such as reading lists, annotated bibliographies, and a "Smithopaedia"