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1776 and the American Founding
1776 and the American Founding
1776 and the american founding
Adam Smith and the Natural Law: The Impartial Spectator, Synderesis, and Moral Judgment Properly Understood
June 25, 2025
Synderesis
, the "spark of conscience," provides a useful way to think about Adam Smith's impartial spectator, and supports a grounding of natural law in common law principles.
A Little Lower Than the Angels: What the Founders Learned from Adam Smith (Part 2)
June 19, 2025
Fleishacker argues that Adams, Jefferson, and Madison applied Smith's conception of virtue backed up by self-interest.
A Little Lower Than the Angels: What the Founders Learned from Adam Smith (Part 1)
June 17, 2025
Adam Smith provides us with a framework for looking at men as "a little lower than the angels" — not purely benevolent or purely self-interested, but a mixture of both.
The Invisible Power of Special Interest Groups
June 11, 2025
Adam Smith gives reasons in
Wealth of Nations
to think that countering ambition with ambition is not enough in a world of special interests looking to influence, rather than directly control, the government.
John Adams, Adam Smith, and the Passion for Distinction
June 4, 2025
John Adams was heavily influenced by Adam Smith, as can be seen in his
Discourses on Davila
regarding the effects of social rank on human sympathy.
Adam Smith, the American Founding and the Political Problem of Wealth, Part 2
July 26, 2024
How do you make sure bad people do not end up in control of necessary institutions? How do you make sure that good people can rise to positions of leadership that require virtue? The American founders struggled and arguing and learned from each other as well as from thoughtful predecessors like Adam Smith.
Adam Smith, the American Founding and the Political Problem of Wealth
July 17, 2024
... for Smith, and most of the founders, the moral psychological problem of wealth is not something that can be resolved, and so each suggest institutional solutions to the problem. Smith, in particular, focuses on political economic solutions or institutions to address the potential downfalls of a permanent wealthy class.
Adam Smith and the American Founding: The Theory of Moral Sentiments as a Field Guide to the Pursuit of Happiness
April 1, 2020
Adam Smith's Economic Case Against Imperialism
August 14, 2018
1776 and All That: Thomas Jefferson on Adam Smith
July 4, 2019
The American Revolution and Constitution
A collection of material on the Revolution and the Constitution at the Online Library of Liberty
American Founding Timeline
via the Online Library of Liberty