Adam Smith

Adam Smith was a Scottish moral philosopher and political economist whose investigations of human sympathy, commerce, and social institutions profoundly shaped modern economic and political thought. Born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, he was educated at the University of Glasgow and Balliol College, Oxford, before returning to Scotland to pursue an academic career. Appointed professor of moral philosophy at Glasgow in 1752, he became a central figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, an intellectual movement devoted to understanding society through reason, historical inquiry, and the observation of human behaviour. His friendships with David Hume and other leading thinkers sharpened his interest in the moral foundations of social cooperation. In 1764, Smith travelled to France as tutor to the young Duke of Buccleuch, meeting prominent Enlightenment figures and encountering the economic theories of the French physiocrats.

His first major work, *The Theory of Moral Sentiments* (1759), examined sympathy, conscience, and the human capacity to judge moral conduct through imaginative participation in the feelings of others. His masterpiece, *An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations* (1776), investigated the division of labour, trade, economic development, and the institutions governing commercial society. Although frequently associated with unrestricted self-interest, Smith understood economic activity within a broader moral and social framework. His analysis of markets, specialization, and political institutions established the foundations of classical political economy. By uniting moral philosophy with historical and economic observation, Smith helped define the Enlightenment's ambitious project of understanding the forces shaping human society.