# Adam Smith > [!info] Resource details > **Date:** 2023 · updated for the *Wealth of Nations* 250th, 2026 > **Topics:** #adam-smith #history-of-thought #markets #wealth-of-nations > **Subjects:** #economics #history #politics Adam Smith (1723–1790) was a Scottish philosopher and economist from Kirkcaldy in Fife, and a student, professor and rector at the **University of Glasgow** — whose [business school](http://gla.ac.uk/business) is named after him. He is often called the founder of modern economics, though he thought of himself first as a moral philosopher. This page introduces who he was, his two great books, and why his ideas are still argued over today. ## Watch In this short film, Professor Craig Smith of the University of Glasgow looks at *The Wealth of Nations* and its five big ideas — including the **division of labour** and the **invisible hand**.  ## His two books — and why the difference matters People often reduce Adam Smith to "free markets" and the invisible hand. But he wrote **two** major works, and you only get him right if you read them together. > [!abstract]+ The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) > Smith's *first* book, written while he was Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow. It asks how people come to make moral judgements, and argues that we do so through **sympathy** (what we'd now call empathy) — imagining ourselves in another's position and judging conduct as an "impartial spectator" would. Its concern is how people live well *together*. > [!abstract]+ The Wealth of Nations (1776) > In full, *An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations*. Five "books" over roughly 1,000 pages, written over a decade — many of the ideas worked out in his Glasgow lectures. It asks **what wealth really is, how it is created, and why some nations grow richer than others**, and it became the founding text of economics as a discipline. > [!question]+ The "Adam Smith Problem" > Some later readers thought the two books contradicted each other — *Moral Sentiments* built on sympathy, *Wealth of Nations* on self-interest. Most scholars now reject this. Smith saw **self-interest and concern for others as two sides of the same human nature**: the famous line that the butcher and baker serve us "not from benevolence but from regard to their own interest" sits inside a moral framework, not against one. Reading the two books together is the key to understanding what Smith actually meant — he was never an apostle of pure greed. ## Five big ideas from *The Wealth of Nations* - **The division of labour** — splitting a job into specialised tasks hugely raises how much can be produced (his famous pin factory). - **The invisible hand** — individuals pursuing their own ends can, through exchange, produce outcomes that benefit society as a whole — though Smith used the phrase sparingly and with caveats. - **Markets and exchange** — our tendency to "truck, barter and exchange" drives specialisation and growth. - **The role of the state** — Smith was *not* against government: he saw clear roles for defence, justice, public works and education, and warned about the self-interest of merchants. - **What wealth is** — not gold in a vault, but the goods and labour a nation can command: a genuinely new way of thinking about prosperity. ## 250 years of *The Wealth of Nations* 2026 marks 250 years since *The Wealth of Nations* was first published. The University of Glasgow is leading the celebrations, framing Smith's economics around three questions as live now as in 1776 — the nature, the causes, and the politics of wealth. > [!tip] See our dedicated page > → **[[Wealth of Nations at 250]]** — the anniversary, Glasgow's three themes, events and an interactive game. ## Online resources - [University of Glasgow — Adam Smith](https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/adamsmith300/) — the tercentenary hub: his life, ideas, and 21st-century relevance. - [University of Glasgow — 250 Years of the Wealth of Nations (2026)](https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/adamsmith300/wealthofnations250/) — the anniversary programme, themes and events. (The Scottish Economic Society is a funder.) - [The World in 1776 — interactive game](https://worldin1776.org.uk/) — explore the forces that shaped the modern world: empire, trade, slavery and revolution. - [Five Reasons Adam Smith Remains Britain's Most Important Economist, 300 Years On](https://theconversation.com/five-reasons-adam-smith-remains-britains-most-important-economist-300-years-on-205154) - [What the Right Gets Wrong About Adam Smith](https://theconversation.com/what-the-right-gets-wrong-about-adam-smith-207798) - [In Search of the Real Adam Smith (Freakonomics podcasts)](https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/in-search-of-the-real-adam-smith/) ## Study guide questions 1. Who was Adam Smith, and why is he sometimes called the founder of modern economics — even though he was a moral philosopher? 2. Explain the **division of labour** using the pin factory. How can specialising make work faster and better — and what might be lost? 3. Smith wrote about **sympathy** in one book and **self-interest** in another. Are these really opposites, or can both be true of the same person? Give an example. 4. Smith thought governments had important jobs to do. Name one role he supported, and one modern example of it. 5. *The Wealth of Nations* asks why some countries are richer than others. What reasons would you give today? --- ← Back to [[Introduction to SES Resources]]