Iain McLean reexamines the radical legacy of AdamSmith, arguing that Smith was a radical egalitarian and that his work supported all three of the slogans of the French Revolution: liberty, equality, and fraternity. McLean suggests that Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments , published in 1759, crystallized the radically egalitarian philosophy of the Scottish Enlightenment. This book brings Smith into full view, showing how much of modern economics and political science is in Smith. The author locates Smith's heritage firmly within the context of the Enlightenment, while addressing the international links between American, French, and Scottish histories of political thought.

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About the author

IAIN MCLEAN is Offical Fellow in Politics, Nuffield College and Professor of Politics, University of Oxford, UK.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title: Adam Smith, Radical and Egalitarian
Book Subtitle: An Interpretation for the 21st Century
Authors: Iain McLean
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-73822-9
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance Collection, Economics and Finance (R0)
Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Nature America Inc. 2006
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4039-7791-5Published: 01 April 2007
eBook ISBN: 978-1-349-73822-9Published: 30 April 2016
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XX, 172
Topics: History of Economic Thought/Methodology, Political Theory, Political Philosophy, History of Britain and Ireland, International Political Economy, Economic History

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

Front Matter

The Life of an Absent-minded Professor

A Weak State and a Weak Church

A Non-religious Grounding of Morals: Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment

Merriment and Diversion: Smith on Public Finance and Public Choice

The Invisible Hand and the Helping Hand

The French and American Smiths

Adam Smith Today

Back Matter

About this book