Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue

Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue

Author: Ryan Patrick Hanley

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-06-22

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 0521449294

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This book revisits the moral and political philosophy of Adam Smith to recover his understanding of morality in a market age.


Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue

Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue

Author: Ryan Patrick Hanley

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-06-22

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1139477390

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Recent years have witnessed a renewed debate over the costs at which the benefits of free markets have been bought. This book revisits the moral and political philosophy of Adam Smith, capitalism's founding father, to recover his understanding of the morals of the market age. In so doing it illuminates a crucial albeit overlooked side of Smith's project: his diagnosis of the ethical ills of commercial societies and the remedy he advanced to cure them. Focusing on Smith's analysis of the psychological and social ills endemic to commercial society - anxiety and restlessness, inauthenticity and mediocrity, alienation and individualism - it argues that Smith sought to combat corruption by cultivating the virtues of prudence, magnanimity and beneficence. The result constitutes a new morality for modernity, at once a synthesis of commercial, classical and Christian virtues and a normative response to one of the most pressing political problems of Smith's day and ours.


Our Great Purpose

Our Great Purpose

Author: Ryan Hanley

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-06-15

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 0691216703

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Invaluable wisdom on living a good life from the founder of modern economics.


Adam Smith

Adam Smith

Author: Ryan Hanley

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2016-01-12

Total Pages: 597

ISBN-13: 1400873487

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The essential guide to the life, thought, and legacy of Adam Smith Adam Smith (1723–90) is perhaps best known as one of the first champions of the free market and is widely regarded as the founding father of capitalism. From his ideas about the promise and pitfalls of globalization to his steadfast belief in the preservation of human dignity, his work is as relevant today as it was in the eighteenth century. Here, Ryan Hanley brings together some of the world's finest scholars from across a variety of disciplines to offer new perspectives on Smith's life, thought, and enduring legacy. Contributors provide succinct and accessible discussions of Smith's landmark works and the historical context in which he wrote them, the core concepts of Smith's social vision, and the lasting impact of Smith's ideas in both academia and the broader world. They reveal other sides of Smith beyond the familiar portrayal of him as the author of the invisible hand, emphasizing his deep interests in such fields as rhetoric, ethics, and jurisprudence. Smith emerges not just as a champion of free markets but also as a thinker whose unique perspective encompasses broader commitments to virtue, justice, equality, and freedom. An essential introduction to Adam Smith's life and work, this incisive and thought-provoking book features contributions from leading figures such as Nicholas Phillipson, Amartya Sen, and John C. Bogle. It demonstrates how Smith's timeless insights speak to contemporary concerns such as growth in the developing world and the future of free trade, and how his influence extends to fields ranging from literature and philosophy to religion and law.


The Impartial Spectator

The Impartial Spectator

Author: D. D. Raphael

Publisher: Clarendon Press

Published: 2007-01-25

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0191526649

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D. D. Raphael provides a critical account of the moral philosophy of Adam Smith, presented in his first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Whilst it does not have the same prominence in its field as his work on economics, The Wealth of Nations, Smith's writing on ethics is of continuing importance and interest today, especially for its theory of conscience. Smith sees the origin of conscience in the sympathetic and antipathetic feelings of spectators. As spectators of the actions of other people, we can imagine how we would feel in their situation. If we would share their motives, we approve of their action. If not, we disapprove. When we ourselves take an action, we know from experience what spectators would feel, approval or disapproval. That knowledge forms conscience, an imagined impartial spectator who tells us whether an action is right or wrong. In describing the content of moral judgement, Smith is much influenced by Stoic ethics, with an emphasis on self-command, but he voices criticism as well as praise. His own position is a combination of Stoic and Christian values. There is a substantial difference between the first five editions of the Moral Sentiments and the sixth. Failure to take account of this has led some commentators to mistaken views about the supposed youthful idealism of the Moral Sentiments as contrasted with the mature realism of The Wealth of Nations. A further source of error has been the supposition that Smith treats sympathy as the motive of moral action, as contrasted with the supposedly universal motive of self-interest in The Wealth of Nations.


The Oxford Handbook of Adam Smith

The Oxford Handbook of Adam Smith

Author: Christopher J. Berry

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2013-05-16

Total Pages: 645

ISBN-13: 0199605068

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This Handbook provides an accessible survey of the whole of Smith's thought with chapters written by leading experts that will allow all readers to gain a sense of the breadth and depth of the thought of this world historical figure.


Saving Adam Smith

Saving Adam Smith

Author: Jonathan B. Wight

Publisher: Pearson Education

Published: 2001-10-29

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0132782642

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Adam Smith ... Father of Modern Economics ... Died in 1790 ... but 200 years later, his spirit is tortured by the caricatures we remember in his name. In Saving Adam Smith, he is tortured enough to return to Earth ... and so begins a journey of discovery that cuts across two centuries, as doctoral student Richard Burns puts his life on the line to rediscover Smith's most profound insight: Selfishness is not enough.


The Character of Virtue

The Character of Virtue

Author: Stanley Hauerwas

Publisher: Canterbury Press

Published: 2018-05-30

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 1786220709

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Stanley Hauerwas is one of today's greatest theologians, but like many of us, he is also a godparent. In this very special collection he invites us to share in fifteen letters to sent to his godson, Laurence Wells. Each letter, sent on the anniversary of Laurence’s baptism every year, distills years of self-reflection and religious thinking into heartfelt notes packed with wit, warmth and verve. The letters explore what makes a happy, fulfilled life: kindness, courage, humility, joy, friendship, simplicity, humour, generosity and faith. An introduction by Samuel Wells—Laurence’s father—tells the story behind these letters and offers insight into being a godparent.


Economics and the Virtues

Economics and the Virtues

Author: Jennifer A. Baker

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 019870139X

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A volume by leading economists and philosophers that explores the contributions that virtue ethics can make to economics. Provides historical and modern insights in both economics and philosophy and offers suggestions for incorporating the ethics of virtue into economics to make it more applicable to moral dilemmas in the world outside the models.