Although Adam Smith is often thought of today as an economist, he was in fact (as his great contemporaries Hume, Burke, Kant, and Hegel recognized) an original and insightful thinker whose work covers an immense territory including moral philosophy, political economy, rhetorical theory, aesthetics, and jurisprudence. Charles Griswold has written the first comprehensive philosophical study of Smith's moral and political thought. Griswold sets Smith's work in the context of the continuing debate about the nature and survival of the Enlightenment, and relates it to current discussions in moral and political philosophy. Smith's appropriation as well as criticism of ancient philosophy, and his carefully balanced defense of a liberal and humane moral and political outlook, are also explored. This is a major reassessment of a key figure in modernity that will be of particular interest to philosophers and political and legal theorists, as well as historians of ideas, rhetoric, and political economy.
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Editorial Reviews
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"In a rich and detailed examination of The Theory of Moral Sentiments Griswold presents Smith as a rhetorically sophisticated dialectical thinker, defending Enlightenment values while aware of their profound costs, seeking a philosophical system while distrustful of the system, and aiming to guard ordinary moral life against excessive reflection. This is a major study, resting on a thorough rethinking of all of Smith's work. Griswold shows Smith to be a more complex moral thinker than he has been taken to be, and one far more pertinent to current issues." Jerome B. Schneewind, The Johns Hopkins University
"With one eye on the eighteenth century and the other on our current predicament, Charles Griswold's Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment is wonderfully interesting and informative, philosophically stimulating and acute, and beautifully written." Stephen Darwall, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
"...written for an audience of professional philosophers. But it is also exemplary in spelling out many of Smith's arguments and subjecting them to analytic scrutiny." Jerry Z. Muller, The Wall Street Journal
"...rewarding for economists seeking a deeper understanding of Smith's ideas." Choice
"...it is perhaps not surprising that Smith has sen something of a renaissance, with numerous studies published that help to restore him to his rightful place in the Western tradition. At the top of this list is Charles Griswold's excellent new book, Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment. Griswold Performs a valuable service by showing us that one of the Enlightenment's most important founding thinkers believed that liberal commercial societies were dependent on, productive of, and ultimately legitimated not by wealth or freedom but by virtue. Griswold walks us through Smith's highly complex account...." The Public Interest
"...pathbreaking..." Charles Larmore, The New Republic
"Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment is written by and largely for philosophers...Yet it should be studied by all who are interested in Adam Smith; it may fundamentally change the way they view Smith...Griswold's work merits a careful, deep reading by a large part of the contemporary literati." The Annals of the American Academy
"...brilliant study...Griswold's book illuminates a wide range of themes in Smith's moral philosophy..." Journal of the History of Philosophy
"With one eye on the eighteenth century and the other on our current predicament, Charles Griswold's Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment is wonderfully interesting and informative, philosophically stimulating and acute, and beautifully written." Stephen Darwall, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
"...written for an audience of professional philosophers. But it is also exemplary in spelling out many of Smith's arguments and subjecting them to analytic scrutiny." Jerry Z. Muller, The Wall Street Journal
"...rewarding for economists seeking a deeper understanding of Smith's ideas." Choice
"...it is perhaps not surprising that Smith has sen something of a renaissance, with numerous studies published that help to restore him to his rightful place in the Western tradition. At the top of this list is Charles Griswold's excellent new book, Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment. Griswold Performs a valuable service by showing us that one of the Enlightenment's most important founding thinkers believed that liberal commercial societies were dependent on, productive of, and ultimately legitimated not by wealth or freedom but by virtue. Griswold walks us through Smith's highly complex account...." The Public Interest
"...pathbreaking..." Charles Larmore, The New Republic
"Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment is written by and largely for philosophers...Yet it should be studied by all who are interested in Adam Smith; it may fundamentally change the way they view Smith...Griswold's work merits a careful, deep reading by a large part of the contemporary literati." The Annals of the American Academy
"...brilliant study...Griswold's book illuminates a wide range of themes in Smith's moral philosophy..." Journal of the History of Philosophy
Book Description
Although Adam Smith is often thought of today as an economist, he was in fact (as his great contemporaries Hume, Burke, Kant, and Hegel recognized) an original and insightful thinker whose work covers an immense territory including moral philosophy, political economy, rhetorical theory, aesthetics, and jurisprudence. Charles Griswold has written the first comprehensive philosophical study of Smith's moral and political thought. Griswold sets Smith's work in the context of the continuing debate about the nature and survival of the Enlightenment, and relates it to current discussions in moral and political philosophy. Smith's appropriation as well as criticism of ancient philosophy, and his carefully balanced defense of a liberal and humane moral and political outlook, are also explored. This is a major reassessment of a key figure in modernity that will be of particular interest to philosophers and political and legal theorists, as well as historians of ideas, rhetoric, and political economy.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smith's morality given the weight it deserves,
By A Customer
This review is from: Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment (Modern European Philosophy) (Paperback)
Griswold's book is pitched squarely between the academic of, and the interested newcomer to, the Enlightenment. It gives a refreshingly new outlook over enlightenment ideas as a whole, to illustrate the back drop to Adam Smith's moral notions. In examining the key themes in 'The Theory Of Moral Sentiments' with reference to Smith's whole body of work, Griswold is rare in attributing, to the work, the importance and weight it deserves. Books that focus on Adam Smith's moral philosphy are rare and this book is by no means a weak example of them. If you are at all interested in Adam Smith, and particularly those interested in 'The Wealth of Nations' you need to look at his moral roots, and Griswold's book is an excellent secondary text to look at.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Analysis of 'Moral Sentiments',
This review is from: Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment (Modern European Philosophy) (Paperback)
Jerry Muller (The Mind and the Market) said this is the best commentary on Adam Smith's 'Moral Sentiments' and he is right! Griswold provides a thoughtful and understandable analysis of Smith's 'theory' of moral sentiments.
His explanation of the 'actor' and the 'spectator', the 'impartial spectator', the conscience,and just what 'morality' means to Smith are so clear. Griswold raises possible objections to Smith's system and answers them satisfactorily, showing a keen 'sympathy' with the topic he is so ably handling. This book is a must, not only for Smith scholars, but for anyone interested in what morality is all about and how it all developed (and is still developing). Buy this great work and have a mental and moral feast!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Solid Effort!,
This review is from: Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment (Modern European Philosophy) (Hardcover)
Put on your scuba gear - we're diving down deep. Even though Charles L. Griswold, Jr. writes in a dense, academic style, it is worth swimming through his prose to learn about the remarkable work of 18th-century Enlightenment philosopher Adam Smith. Regarded as one of the fathers of modern economic thought, Smith has been misunderstood for the last century because his ethical philosophy has been overlooked. Instead, economists have drawn attention only to his thumbs-up for free enterprise and free trade. Smith believed neither was worthwhile without ethics, a point some modern economists might profitably revisit. We [...] highly recommend this richly detailed, insightful book to anyone interested in economic, political, or social philosophy.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
We find ourselves in a curious situation. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
projected corpus, illusive sympathy, called natural jurisprudence, impartial spectator theory, sympathy and selfishness, ordinary moral life, direct philosophical enquiries, cold esteem, unsocial passions, high prudence, intellectual sentiments, very parish, bettering our condition, ancient physics, moral sentiments, commutative justice, actual spectators, moral psychology, person principally, erroneous conscience, theatrum mundi, philosophical light, ordinary agents, disinterested pleasure, ethical rationalism Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Adam Smith, New York, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Harvard University Press, Clarendon Press, After Virtue, Essays Moral, Nicomachean Ethics, Plato's Laws, Hence Smith, Marcus Aurelius, Princeton University Press, Sextus Empiricus, University of California Press, David Hume, New Haven, Patterns of Moral Complexity, Plato's Republic, Thomas Reid, Yale University Press, Columbia University Press, Earl of Shaftesbury, Journal of the History of Ideas, The Natural History of Religion New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
We find ourselves in a curious situation. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
projected corpus, illusive sympathy, called natural jurisprudence, impartial spectator theory, sympathy and selfishness, ordinary moral life, direct philosophical enquiries, cold esteem, unsocial passions, high prudence, intellectual sentiments, very parish, bettering our condition, ancient physics, moral sentiments, commutative justice, actual spectators, moral psychology, person principally, erroneous conscience, theatrum mundi, philosophical light, ordinary agents, disinterested pleasure, ethical rationalism Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Adam Smith, New York, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Harvard University Press, Clarendon Press, After Virtue, Essays Moral, Nicomachean Ethics, Plato's Laws, Hence Smith, Marcus Aurelius, Princeton University Press, Sextus Empiricus, University of California Press, David Hume, New Haven, Patterns of Moral Complexity, Plato's Republic, Thomas Reid, Yale University Press, Columbia University Press, Earl of Shaftesbury, Journal of the History of Ideas, The Natural History of Religion New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 66
books:
See all 66 books this book cites
53
books
cite this book:
See all 53 books citing this book
- Adam Smith: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy) by Adam Smith on 46 pages
- The Wealth of Nations: Representative Selections by Adam Smith on 43 pages
- Essays on Philosophical Subjects (Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith) by Adam Smith on 4 pages
- Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres: Delivered in the University of Glasgow by Adam Smith; Reported by a Student in 1762-63 (Landmarks in Rhetoric and Public Address) by Adam Smith on 4 pages
- Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith on 4 pages
See all 66 books this book cites
- Hegel, Literature, and the Problem of Agency (Modern European Philosophy) by Allen Speight on 4 pages
- Civil Society: The Conservative Meaning of Liberal Politics by Lawrence E. Cahoone on page 161, page 204, and page 301
- The Eschatological Economy: Time and the Hospitality of God by Douglas Knight on page 57, and Back Matter
- Adam Smith: The Rhetoric of Propriety (Suny Series, Rhetoric in the Modern Era) by Stephen J McKenna on page 150, and Back Matter
- Interpreting the Founding: Guide to the Enduring Debates Over the Origins and Foundations of the American Republic (American Political Thought) by Alan Gibson in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 53 books citing this book
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