Adam Smith in His Time and Ours: Designing the Decent Society [Hardcover]

Jerry Z. Muller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 1992

In recent years Adam Smith has been championed by advocates of the market economy. This book analyzes Smith's economic and political thought, and concludes that far from subscribing to unregulated self-interest, Smith believed the market should operate in tandem with socially improving institutions. Muller shows how the "Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" was as much as anything a warning against the threat posed to the common good by organized mercantile interest. Smith was interested not just in how wealth was created, but how it could be used to build a decent society. It is this aspect of his thought, argues Muller, which has been ignored by those who use his writings to further their own ideological interests.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This solid, clearly written primer aims to redeem the famed economist Adam Smith's subtle and complex views, which have often been caricatured. First placing Smith in intellectual and historical context, Muller then analyzes The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments , finding in them "a vision of commercial humanism." Though usually characterized as a free-marketer, Smith actually viewed government as crucial to regulating industry and providing infrastructure, states Muller, an associate professor of history at the Catholic University of America. After exploring Smith's comprehensive views of religion, social psychology and social science, Muller concludes by showing how Smith has been misread and wrongly criticized and suggests that Smith's concerns about character, virtue and the institutions to foster them remain relevant today.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

According to Muller (economics, Catholic Univ.), Adam Smith's ideas are not what they are thought to be by either his biggest fans or biggest critics. By jointly exploring Smith's two major works ( The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments ), the author captures the original Smith and infuses new relevance into his writings about tackling contemporary economic challenges. Smith's two works provide a discussion on how to structure institutions in order to channel personal emotions into the common good. Muller has written a provocative and generally convincing reexamination of one of the essential figures of Anglo-American intellectual heritage. Not just for economists, this book is recommended for all academic libraries.
- Richard C. Schiming, Mankato State Univ., Minn.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: Free Press of Macmillian (November 9, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029222346
• ISBN-13: 978-0029222348
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellant primer on the thought of Adam Smith, June 1, 2003

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R. Price "caesar_42" (Liverpool, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adam Smith in His Time and Ours (Paperback)

I couldn't disagree more with the review of Max Hayes. It would and does shock people to learn that Adam Smith wasn't primarily an economist as we think of the term. The fact that his work was centered around moral philosophy and making people "decent" is widely unknown and most people have never even heard of The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Robert Heilbroner said it best when he called Smith "the most quoted and least read of the worldly philophers."

This book is not a biography of Smith, which would probably be pretty boring. It is an examination of his ideas. Muller starts by placing the book in its intellectual context of earlier traditions. Than he turns to an examination of Smith's work as a whole. This is important because to often Smith is limited to The Wealth of Nations, which is only one element of his thought. Muller examines The Theory of Moral Sentiments and the Lectures on Jurisprudence to form a more complete picture of Smith as a moral philisopher.

The most important element of this book is the demonstration that Smith was not a defender of unrestrained greed. Smith sought to defend and construct institutions that would channel individual self-interest into benefical results for the whole of society. Nor was he an enemy of government. While it is true that he thought government often proved a danger to the market because of the influence of what we call special interests, Smith did not reject government regulation totally. In fact he argued for regulation of banking and interest rates and advocated using the government to try and correct the negative effects capitalism had on the intellect of the people through public financed education.

Muller writes a compelling book demonstrating that Smith is not the proto-libertarian so many people claim. That in fact Smith would probably be quite dismayed at the uses to which his thoughts have been applied.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an excellent introduction to Adam Smith's ideas., August 23, 1998

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Zvi Bodie (Brookline, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adam Smith in His Time and Ours (Paperback)

I am sure that anyone interested in the history of ideas will enjoy reading this book for its clear exposition of Smith's ideas and their relevance to today's economic, social, and political issues. Muller has a scholar's mastery of Smith's writings as well as a broad knowledge of their intellectual antecedents. The style is jargon-free.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Puts Smith in Context, August 24, 2009

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Robert Szarka (Norwich, CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adam Smith in His Time and Ours: Designing the Decent Society (Hardcover)

Muller puts Smith in historical context and integrates his major works (Wealth of Nations, Theory of Moral Sentiments, and Lectures on Jurisprudence, the latter surviving only in the form of student notes) to paint a complete picture of Smith as moral philosopher. Smith's philosophy is often mischaracterized as one in which "greed is good" and the market alone is sufficient to attain a civil and productive society. Muller goes far beyond this cartoonish version of Smith to place his appreciation for the market in its proper context and distinguish Smith from contemporaries such as Mandeville and Bentham.

Muller's analysis is well-developed, but his exposition is at times repetitive. The final chapter, in which he attempts to relate Smith's philosophy to contemporary society, is a bit of a throwaway; and Muller is on shakier ground discussing economics than ethics. On balance, though, this is a fascinating and useful book that any student of Adam Smith should own. Despite the book's age, even the twenty-page Guide to Further Reading remains valuable.