Scottish Enlightenment

Adam Smith and Loveliness

Adam Smith and our Propensity to Deceive rather than to Think ill of Ourselves

Adam Smith argued that the “propensity to truck, barter, and exchange” was inherent in human nature and gave rise to things such as the division of labour (1776)

Adam Smith argues that retaliation in a trade war can sometimes force the offending country to lower its tariffs, but more often than not the reverse happens (1776)

Adam Smith argues that the Habeas Corpus Act is a great security against the tyranny of the king (1763)

Adam Smith claims that exorbitant taxes imposed without consent of the governed constitute legitimate grounds for the people to resist their rulers (1763)

Adam Smith debunks that idea that when it comes to public debt “we owe it to ourselves” (1776)

Adam Smith notes that colonial governments might exercise relative freedom in the metropolis but impose tyranny in the distant provinces (1776)

Adam Smith observes that the true costs of war remain hidden from the taxpayers because they are sheltered in the metropole far from the fighting and instead of increasing taxes the government pays for the war by increasing the national debt (1776)

Adam Smith on Admiration of the Rich and Powerful

Adam Smith on compulsory attendance in the classroom (1776)

Adam Smith on consumption as the only end and purpose of production

Adam Smith on Good Wine and Free Trade

Adam Smith on Happiness, Tranquility, and Enjoyment

Adam Smith on how “furious monopolists” will fight to the bitter end to keep their privileges (1776)

Adam Smith on how Government Regulation and Taxes might drive a Man to Drink (1766)

Adam Smith on how governments learn from each other the best way of draining money from the pockets of the people (1776)

Adam Smith on money as an instrument of commerce as well as a measure of value

Adam Smith on Slavery

Adam Smith on social change and “the man of system” (1759)

Adam Smith on the “Wonder, Surprise, and Admiration” one feels when contemplating the physical World (1795)

Adam Smith on the Butcher, the Brewer, and the Baker

Adam Smith on the dangers of faction and privilege seeking (1759)

Adam Smith on the Dangers of sacrificing one’s Liberty for the supposed benefits of the “lordly servitude of a court” (1759)

Adam Smith on the greater productivity brought about by the division of labor and technological innovation (1760s)

Adam Smith on the illegitimacy of using force to promote beneficence (1759)

Adam Smith on the natural ordering Tendency of Free Markets, or what he called the “Invisible Hand” (1776)

Adam Smith on the Nature of Happiness

Adam Smith on the need for “peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice” (1755)

Adam Smith on the Sympathy one feels for those Vanquished in a battle rather than for the Victors (1762)

Adam Smith on the “liberal system” of free trade (1776)

Adam Smith on who colleges and universities ACTUALLY benefit

Adam Smith on why people obey and defer to their rulers (1759)

Adam Smith thinks many candidates for high political office act as if they are above the law (1759)

Adam Smith, Patriotism, and the Welfare of Our Fellow Citizens

Adam Smith, Selfishness, and Sympathy

Francis Hutcheson’s early formulation of the principle of “the greatest Happiness for the greatest Numbers” (1726)