Hume, Smith, and Ferguson: Wealth, Commerce, and Corruption
This is a Reading List based upon a Liberty Fund Conference on “Wealth, Commerce, and Corruption in Hume, Smith, and Ferguson.”
Wealth, Commerce, and Corruption in Hume, Smith, and Ferguson
Guide to the Readings
Editions used:
- David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, Literary, edited and with a Foreword, Notes, and Glossary by Eugene F. Miller, with an appendix of variant readings from the 1889 edition by T.H. Green and T.H. Grose, revised edition (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund 1987).
- Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, ed. D.D. Raphael and A.L. Macfie, vol. I of the Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1982).
- Adam Ferguson, An Essay on the History of Civil Society, 5th ed. (London: T. Cadell, 1782).
See also in the Online Library of Liberty:
- Collections: Spontaneous Order
- Collections: Progress
- Collections: The Scottish Enlightenment
For additional reading see:
Session I: Hume on Commercial Societies
David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, Literary, edited and with a Foreword, Notes, and Glossary by Eugene F. Miller, with an appendix of variant readings from the 1889 edition by T.H. Green and T.H. Grose, revised edition (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund 1987).
- Essay I: Of Commerce
- Essay II: Of Refinement In the Arts
- Essay III: Of Money
- Essay IV: Of Interest
Session II: Smith on Nature and Custom
Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, ed. D.D. Raphael and A.L. Macfie, vol. I of the Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1982).
- Part IV: “Of the Effect of Utility Upon the Sentiment of Approbation”
- Part V: “Of the Influence of Custom and Fashion upon the Sentiments of Moral Approbation and Disapprobation”
Session III: Ferguson on Nature, Happiness, and National Greatness
Adam Ferguson, An Essay on the History of Civil Society, 5th ed. (London: T. Cadell, 1782).
Session IV: Ferguson on Property, Law, and Spontaneous Order
Adam Ferguson, An Essay on the History of Civil Society, 5th ed. (London: T. Cadell, 1782).
Session V: Ferguson on Progress
Adam Ferguson, An Essay on the History of Civil Society, 5th ed. (London: T. Cadell, 1782).
- Remainder of Part III (minus the last two sections) Part III. “Of the History of Policy and Arts”
- most of Part IV. “Of the Consequences that Result from the Advancement of Civil and Commercial Arts”
Session VI: Ferguson on Corruption
Adam Ferguson, An Essay on the History of Civil Society, 5th ed. (London: T. Cadell, 1782).