Adam Smith
Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad you all could join me in celebrating the life Adam Smith’s through his literature. I have been recently fascinated by Adam Smith and his clichés that have somewhat haunted me as of late. With phrases such as “self interests”, “free trade”, and the “invisible hand” ringing in my ears like the Liberty Bell, pre-fracture, I set my course to follow in the footsteps of Adam Smith and discover what character traits define him.
Dave Mahorney
SPCH130
Professor Mac Fadden
Much to my dismay, I came to find that little is know of Adam Smith’s personal side. His private life is a shroud of mystery due to the destruction of his personal memoirs. However, I was not about to let Fate deal me a losing hand. So I took up the task of combing Smith’s public works for traces of his traits. Adam Smith’s literature, specifically “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” and “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,” illuminates his analytical insight and perceptive observations. I have taken the liberty of assessing both writings to illustrate how these traits personify his character and lead to his accreditation as the “Father of Economics.”
As a whole, most philosophers are fairly perceptive and Adam Smith’s intricate insight is immortalized in his writings. “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” is a blueprintof human reasoning and reaction. It is in this book that he establishes human morality, an important deriver of decision making, as natural born senses of conscience and sympathy. Smith’s analysis is a brilliant revelation of how human interaction is driven by these natural senses and ensures that human beings can and do live together in orderly and beneficial social organizations. The complex and abundant social analogies showcase Adam Smith’s ability to foresee effects based on his elaborate analysis. This writing earned him notoriety and a job tutoring the stepson of Charles Townshend, the young Duke of Buccleuch (bu’ kloo). He took his new student on a tour of Europe all the while laying the foundation for his next literary work.
In his travels, mainly in France, Adam Smith met many prominent minds upon which he gleaned information to apply to his theories. Resulting in his most influential and renowned text titled “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” Considered by scholars to be his masterpiece, Smith illustrates not only his trait of intricate insight but also of keen observation. The volumes encompass the foundations of free market economics which are division of labor, pursuit of self interest, and freedom of trade. A free market society is the basis of capitalism. An industry with divisions of labor is the automobile; produced by many individual jobs systematically combined to an efficient output. Self interests are decisions made by individuals based on their wants and needs. Freedom of trade is market prices being driven by supply and demand, free of tariffs, free of regulation, free of price wages and free of subsidies. Adam Smith concludes that the “invisible hand” of the market maintains balance and order when the foundations of a free market are observed. These works published in 1776, and according to Roy Smith’s book, was said to have greatly impacted the decision making of our founding fathers as they constructed the basis for our unprecedented system of government. Smith’s ability to compose his observations of national and international commerce contributed to his designation as “The Father of Economics.”
When I look at Adam Smith’s works, I observe a processing of thorough logic and conclude that his insightfulness and observation were vital characteristics that lead to his accreditation. I can only hope to develop my own character in such a fashion that one day I too may be the father of… something.
Work Cited
Smith, Adam “The Theory of the Moral Sentiments” EDINBURGH: 1759
Smith, Roy C., “Adam Smith and the Origins of American Enterprise”, Macmillan: 2002
Wikipedia, “Adam Smith” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith
Wikipedia, “The Wealth of Nations” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations
