Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Philosopher · Writer · Teacher
Scottish Enlightenment thinker. In The Wealth of Nations, he discussed the division of labor, markets, and free competition, creating the starting point for modern economics. He is a person who thinks about the structure of modern society.
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Work
The Wealth of Nations
1776
Book
Scottish Enlightenment
1740–1790
Movement · Participant
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
Born in Scotland, he studied at the University of Glasgow and Oxford. While teaching moral philosophy, he began to think about the relationship between human emotions, order, and commercial society.
In 1776, he published The Wealth of Nations, criticizing mercantilism and explaining the division of labor and the workings of the market. Economic activity was reconsidered as a system of production and exchange, not just a nation's possession of gold and silver.
The ``invisible hand'' is often used as a simple slogan for laissez-faire, but Smith also discussed the importance of moral sentiment and the legal system. He was a thinker who considered not only economics but also social order.
Adam Smith's arguments became the basis of economic thought and liberalism during the Industrial Revolution. Studying him reveals that the market is not something that exists naturally, but has been understood within the context of institutions, morality, and relationships with the state.
