ENGL 151-05, Adam Smith Goes Shopping, Fall 2009

Abstract

In the aftermath of a recent financial crisis, now is a better time than most to give careful consideration to the work of Adam Smith, one of the first and still most insightful theorists of capitalism. In this course we will consider the major questions Smith discussed from the vantage point of our own twenty-first century society: Do consumer goods improve our lives? Does the division of labor make us smarter or dumber? Does capitalism promote virtue? Does free trade promote political freedom? Our focus throughout will be on the philosophical and ethical questions that Smith emphasizes in his work. We begin by reading substantial portions of Smith’s two major books, Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and Wealth of Nations (1776). We then consider works by later writers who take up aspects of Smith’s argument.