Last year I was very, very fortunate to be invited to the Liberty Fund Colloquia “Liberty and Responsibility in Adam Smith” which ran July 6-12, 2009. This event exceeded in impact any other experience and has lead me on a course to examine the foundations of a free society. Below find the reading list that included a survey of the body of work which was discussed at what is affectionally called Smith camp.
This event is designed for "young" scholars, but the invitation of a post 50 year old teacher reflects the elastic conception of the term used by Liberty Fund. I would encourage anyone interested in Adam Smith, a system of natural liberty and the contemporary application of morality to economics to reflect on these readings and to express your interest to the Liberty Fund. Perhaps you too might have the opportunity to attend Smith Camp.
Liberty Fund - http://libertyfund.org/
An amazing resource for anyone interested in Adam Smith and his seminal work - The Theory of Moral Sentiments is the EconTalk book club that examined the book over 6 podcasts. Russ Roberts and Dan Klein do an amazing job of introducing and discussing this important book.
EconTalk Book Club - http://www.econtalk.org/bookclub.html
I am currently reading James Otteson's Adam Smith's Marketplace of Life a wonderfully clear argument that Smith's system of morality and ethics is emergent. I have found that reading Otteson and rereading TMS clarifies for me the impartial spectator process and, more importantly, helps me to understand the emergent process by which the 4 elements that Smith advances in TMS - justice, benevolence, prudence and self command emerge and interact to advance a system of natural liberty founded in virtue.
READING LIST
Session I: Theory of Moral Sentiments, Parts 1 and 2 (99 pages).
Session II: Theory of Moral Sentiments, Parts 3 and 4 (84 pages).
Session III: Theory of Moral Sentiments, Parts 5 and 6 (70 pages).
Session IV: Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part 7 (78 pages).
Session V: “Considerations Concerning the First Formation of Languages,” Hume’s letter to Smith dated 28 July 1759 (letter #36 in Correspondence, pages 42–44); and Smith’s letter to Gilbert Elliot dated 10 October 1759 (letter #40 in Correspondence, pages 48–57) (33 pages).
Session VI: Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, Lectures 2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 21–25, and 28 (72 pages).
Session VII: Lectures on Jurisprudence, B (Report dated 1766), pages 397–462, 471–515, 521–522, 528–535, and 538–544 (144 pages).
Session VIII: Wealth of Nations, “Introduction;” and Book 1, Chapters 1–5 and 6–8, pages 10–56 and 65–104 (86 pages).
Session IX: Wealth of Nations, Book 2, “Introduction,” and Chapters 1, 2, and 3, pages 276–285, 320–329, and 330–349; and Book 3, Chapters 1 and 4, pages 376–380 and 411–412 (70 pages).
Session X: Wealth of Nations, Book 4, “Introduction” and Chapters 2, 7, and 9, pages 452–472, 556–566, 572–577, 586–587, 610–618, 622–627, and 687–688; and Book 5, Chapter 1, and Parts II and III, pages 689–701, 708–716, and 723–729 (85 pages).
Session XI: Wealth of Nations, Book 5, Chapter 1, Article II, pages 758–797 (39 pages).
Session XII: Essays on Philosophical Subjects, “The History of Astronomy,” “The History of Ancient Physics,” and “The History of Ancient Logics and Metaphysics” (pages 33–129) (96 pages).
Session XIII: Essays on Philosophical Subjects, “Of the External Senses” and “Of the Imitative Arts” (pages 135–213) and “Letter to the Edinburgh Review” (pages 242-254) (78 pages).
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