The Life of Adam Smith
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.91 (828 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0199550034 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 624 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-11-29 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Updated to include new scholarship which has recently come to light, this full-scale biography of Adam Smith examines the personality, career, and social and intellectual circumstances of the Scottish moral philosopher regarded as the founder of scientific economics, whose legacy of thought --most notably about the free market and the role of the state--concerns us all. Ian Simpson Ross draws on correspondence, archival documents, the reports of contemporaries, and the record of Smith's publications to fashion a lively account of Adam Smith as a man of letters, moralist, historian, and critic, as well as an economist. Supported with full scholarly apparatus for students and academics, the book also offers 20 halftone illustrat
Ross's rounded intellectual biography gives us all sides of the man. . Smith (1723-1790) studied at Oxford, met his idol, Voltaire, near Geneva and mingled in Paris with French Physiocrats?laissez-faire economists whose belief in absolute freedom of trade Smith rejected, according to Ross, emeritus professor of English at the University of British Columbia. In London, Smith, a policy adviser, urged the British government to jettison its colonial system of restraints, and the publication of his classic Wealth of Nations in 1776 was timed, suggests Ross, to convince
"Solid account of his life's impact on Smith's writing." according to Mark Howells. Easy to read in spite of the larger-than-life reputation of Adam Smith. Presents Adam Smith the man as a bit of an absent minder professor who talked to himself.However, the book shines in connecting Smith's life experiences to their effect on his thinking and writing. Extensive use is made of Smith's correspondence to flesh out ideas presented in his published works. The author is clearly more comfortable with the pedigree of thought behind "The Theory of Moral Sentiment" rather than "The W. A Customer said Fine insight into Smith and an 18th century life.. This is an extraordinarily interesting biography, especially for its insight into the very different world of 18th century Scotland. Smith's student start at Glasgow University with six professors, at which and education could be obtained for 10 pounds a year. His first book -- A Theory of Moral Sentiments -- in which he developed his concepts of morality, and which he kept revising along with A Wealth of Nations until his death. His first protest against tariffs -- an import duty on oats in. VA Book Lover said Academic biography. Those who are not looking for an academic biography should check out Adam Smith: The Man and His Works by E. G. West. It's concise, elegantly written, and keenly insightful. Only specialists and academics need bother with Ross's tome.