Adam Smith

Scottish moral philosopher whose Wealth of Nations founded classical economics and the case for markets.

Specifications & Metrics

lifespan

1723-1790

nationality

Scottish

school

Classical

Core Principles & Analysis

• The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) supplied the sympathy-based ethics his market theory assumes.
• The Wealth of Nations (1776) attacked mercantilism and argued that the division of labor drives productivity.
• His pin-factory example remains economics' most famous illustration of specialization.

Sources

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Adam Smith's Moral and Political Philosophy