Adam Smith Reconsidered : History, Liberty, and the Foundations of Modern Politics

A radical reinterpretation of Adam Smith that challenges economists, moral philosophers, political theorists, and intellectual historians to rethink him―and why he matters Adam Smith has long been recognized as the father of modern economics. More recently, scholars have emphasized his standing as a moral philosopher―one who was prepared to critique markets as well as to praise them. But Smith’s contributions to political theory are still underappreciated and relatively neglected. In this bold, revisionary book, Paul Sagar argues that not only have the fundamentals of Smith’s political thought been widely misunderstood, but that once we understand them correctly, our estimations of Smith as economist and as moral philosopher must radically change. Rather than seeing Smith either as the prophet of the free market, or as a moralist who thought the dangers of commerce lay primarily in the corrupting effects of trade, Sagar shows why Smith is more thoroughly a political thinker who made major contributions to the history of political thought. Smith, Sagar argues, saw war, not commerce, as the engine of political change and he was centrally concerned with the political, not moral, dimensions of―and threats to―commercial societies. In this light, the true contours and power of Smith’s foundational contributions to western political thought emerge as never before. Offering major reinterpretations of Smith’s political, moral, and economic ideas, Adam Smith Reconsidered seeks to revolutionize how he is understood. In doing so, it recovers Smith’s original way of doing political theory, one rooted in the importance of history and the necessity of maintaining a realist sensibility, and from which we still have much to learn. "Una reinterpretación radical de Adam Smith que desafía a economistas, filósofos morales, teóricos políticos e historiadores intelectuales a repensar en él, y en por qué es importante. Adam Smith ha sido reconocido durante mucho tiempo como el padre de la economía moderna. Más recientemente, los estudiosos han destacado su posición como filósofo moral, que estaba preparado para criticar los mercados, así como para alabarlos. Pero las contribuciones de Smith a la teoría política siguen siendo infravaloradas y relativamente olvidadas. En este audaz libro de revisión, Paul Sagar argumenta que no sólo se han malinterpretado los fundamentos del pensamiento político de Smith, sino que, una vez que los entendemos correctamente, nuestras estimaciones de Smith como economista y como filósofo moral deben cambiar radicalmente. En lugar de ver a Smith como el profeta del libre mercado, o como un moralista que pensaba que los peligros del comercio residían principalmente en los efectos corruptores del comercio, Sagar muestra por qué Smith es más bien un pensador político que hizo importantes contribuciones a la historia del pensamiento político. Sagar sostiene que Smith consideraba que la guerra, y no el comercio, era el motor del cambio político, y que su principal preocupación eran las dimensiones políticas, y no morales, de las sociedades comerciales, y las amenazas a las mismas. A la luz de esto, los verdaderos contornos y el poder de las contribuciones fundacionales de Smith al pensamiento político occidental emergen como nunca antes. Ofreciendo importantes reinterpretaciones de las ideas políticas, morales y económicas de Smith, Adam Smith Reconsidered pretende revolucionar la forma de entenderlo. Al hacerlo, recupera la forma original de Smith de hacer teoría política, una forma arraigada en la importancia de la historia y la necesidad de mantener una sensibilidad realista, y de la que todavía tenemos mucho que aprender". Editor

A radical reinterpretation of Adam Smith thatchallenges economists, moral philosophers,political theorists, and intellectual historians to rethink him-andwhy he matters Adam Smith has long been recognized as thefather of modern economics. More recently, scholars have emphasizedhis standing as a moral philosopher-one who was prepared tocritique markets as well as to praise them. But Smith'scontributions to political theory are still underappreciated andrelatively neglected. In this bold, revisionary book, Paul Sagarargues that not only have the fundamentals of Smith's politicalthought been widely misunderstood, but that once we understand themcorrectly, our estimations of Smith as economist and as moralphilosopher must radically change. Rather than seeing Smith eitheras the prophet of the free market, or as a moralist who thought thedangers of commerce lay primarily in the corrupting effects oftrade, Sagar shows why Smith is more thoroughly a political thinkerwho made major contributions to the history of political thought.Smith, Sagar argues, saw war, not commerce, as the engine ofpolitical change and he was centrally concerned with the political,not moral, dimensions of-and threats to-commercial societies. Inthis light, the true contours and power of Smith's foundationalcontributions to western political thought emerge as never before.Offering major reinterpretations of Smith's political, moral, andeconomic ideas, Adam Smith Reconsidered seeks torevolutionize how he is understood. In doing so, it recoversSmith's original way of doing political theory, one rooted in theimportance of history and the necessity of maintaining a realistsensibility, and from which we still have much to learn.

A radical reinterpretation of Adam Smith that challenges economists, moral philosophers, political theorists, and intellectual historians to rethink him--and why he mattersAdam Smith has long been recognized as the father of modern economics. More recently, scholars have emphasized his standing as a moral philosopher--one who was prepared to critique markets as well as to praise them. But Smith's contributions to political theory are still underappreciated and relatively neglected. In this bold, revisionary book, Paul Sagar argues that not only have the fundamentals of Smith's political thought been widely misunderstood, but that once we understand them correctly, our estimations of Smith as economist and as moral philosopher must radically change. Rather than seeing Smith as either the prophet of the free market, or as a moralist who thought the dangers of commerce lay primarily in the corrupting effects of trade, Sagar shows why Smith is more thoroughly a political thinker who made major contributions to the history of political thought. Smith, Sagar argues, saw war, not commerce, as the engine of political change and he was centrally concerned with the political, not moral, dimensions of--and threats to--commercial societies. In this light, the true contours and power of Smith's foundational contributions to western political thought emerge as never before. Offering major reinterpretations of Smith's political, moral, and economic ideas, Adam Smith Reconsidered seeks to revolutionize how he is understood. In doing so, it recovers Smith's original way of doing political theory, one rooted in the importance of history and the necessity of maintaining a realist sensibility, and from which we still have much to learn Adam Smith has long been recognized as the father of modern economics. More recently, scholars have emphasized his standing as a moral philosopher-one who was prepared to critique markets as well as to praise them. But Smith's contributions to political theory are still underappreciated and relatively neglected. In this bold, revisionary book, Paul Sagar argues that not only have the fundamentals of Smith's political thought been widely misunderstood, but that once we understand them correctly, our estimations of Smith as economist and as moral philosopher must radically change.0Rather than seeing Smith either as the prophet of the free market, or as a moralist who thought the dangers of commerce lay primarily in the corrupting effects of trade, Sagar shows why Smith is more thoroughly a political thinker who made major contributions to the history of political thought. Smith, Sagar argues, saw war, not commerce, as the engine of political change and he was centrally concerned with the political, not moral, dimensions of-and threats to-commercial societies. In this light, the true contours and power of Smith's foundational contributions to western political thought emerge as never before.0Offering major reinterpretations of Smith's political, moral, and economic ideas, Adam Smith Reconsidered seeks to revolutionize how he is understood. In doing so, it recovers Smith's original way of doing political theory, one rooted in the importance of history and the necessity of maintaining a realist sensibility, and from which we still have much to learn Adam Smith has long been recognized as the father of modern economics. More recently, scholars have emphasized his standing as a moral philosopher—one who was prepared to critique markets as well as to praise them. But Smith's contributions to political theory are still underappreciated and relatively neglected. This book argues that not only have the fundamentals of Smith's political thought been widely misunderstood, but that once we understand them correctly, our estimations of Smith as economist and as moral philosopher must radically change. Rather than seeing Smith either as the prophet of the free market, or as a moralist who thought the dangers of commerce lay primarily in the corrupting effects of trade, the book shows why Smith is more thoroughly a political thinker who made major contributions to the history of political thought. Smith, the book argues, saw war, not commerce, as the engine of political change and he was centrally concerned with the political, not moral, dimensions of—and threats to—commercial societies. In this light, the true contours and power of Smith's foundational contributions to western political thought emerge as never before. Offering major reinterpretations of Smith's political, moral, and economic ideas, the book seeks to revolutionize how he is understood. In doing so, it recovers Smith's original way of doing political theory, one rooted in the importance of history and the necessity of maintaining a realist sensibility, and from which we still have much to learn.