Philosopher, Historian, Sociologist
Adam Smith is best known today as the father of modern economics. His most famous work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, continues to be regarded as the foundation text for the study of the relationship between society, politics, commerce and prosperity.
Yet there is more to Adam Smith than a single book, no matter how influential it proved to be. His other philosophical work ranged widely, taking in explorations of morality, aesthetics and jurisprudence. He was also a teacher with a profound interest in education for all.
Adam Smith, therefore, deserves his place as a central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment - the extraordinary flowering of intellectual and cultural achievement that contributed so much to the shaping of the modern world.
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Smith Wisdom
How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.
The Theory Of Moral Sentiments, Part I, Section I