Adam Smith

Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, studied at Glasgow and Oxford, and became professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow. His Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) explained morality through sympathy and the imagined judgment of an impartial spectator. After serving as tutor to the young Duke of Buccleuch on a tour of France, he published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776. He spent his final years as a Commissioner of Customs in Edinburgh. He is a central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Smith is often called the founder of modern economics, and free-market economists and classical liberals regard The Wealth of Nations as a foundational defense of competition and open trade. Scholars across the spectrum also stress that his Theory of Moral Sentiments grounded economic life in sympathy, justice and moral norms. Some on the left cite his criticism of merchants, monopolies and the effects of the division of labor on workers. Critics have argued that his defense of self-interest was later used to justify inequality, while others contend that reading him as a pure advocate of laissez-faire ignores his qualifications.