Adam Smith is celebrated all over the world as the author of The Wealth of Nations and the founder of modern economics. A few of his ideas - such as the 'Invisible Hand' of the market - have become icons of the modern world. Yet Smith saw himself primarily as a philosopher rather than an economist, and would never have predicted that the ideas for which he is now best known were his most important. This book, by one of the leading scholars of the Scottish Enlightenment, shows the extent to which The Wealth of Nations and Smith's other great work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, were part of a larger scheme to establish a grand 'Science of Man', one of the most ambitious projects of the European Enlightenment, which was to encompass law, history and aesthetics as well as economics and ethics. Nicholas Phillipson reconstructs Smith's intellectual ancestry and formation, of which he gives a radically new and convincing account. He shows Smith's interactions with the rapidly changing and subtly different intellectual and commercial cultures of Glasgow and Edinburgh as they entered the great years of the Scottish Enlightenment. Above all he explains how far Smith's ideas developed in dialogue with those of his closest friend, the other titan of the age, David Hume. This superb biography is now the one book which anyone interested in the founder of economics must read.

Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life

Biographies & Memoirs

Phillipson, Nicholas

Historical

Penguin Uk

A giant of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, David Hume was one of the most important philosophers ever to write in English. He was also a brilliant historian. In this succinct study, Nicholas Phillipson shows how Hume freed history from religion and politics. As a philosopher, Hume sought a way of seeing the world and pursuing happiness independently of a belief in God. His groundbreaking approach applied the same outlook to Britain's history, showing how the past was shaped solely through human choices and actions. In this analysis of Hume's life and works, from his university days in Edinburgh to the rapturous reception of his History of England, Nicholas Phillipson reveals the gradual process by which one of the greatest Western philosophers turned himself into one of the greatest historians of Britain. In doing so, he shows us how revolutionary Hume was, and why his ideas still matter today.

David Hume: The Philosopher As Historian

Professionals & Academics

The great eighteenth-century British economist Adam Smith (1723–90) is celebrated as the founder of modern economics. Yet Smith saw himself primarily as a philosopher rather than an economist and would never have predicted that the ideas for which he is now best known were his most important. This biography shows the extent to which Smith's great works, The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments, were part of one of the most ambitious projects of the Euruopean Enlightenment, a grand “Science of Man" that would encompass law, history, and aesthetics as well as economics and ethics, and which was only half complete on Smith’s death in 1790.
Nick Phillipson reconstructs Smith’s intellectual ancestry and shows what Smith took from, and what he gave to, in the rapidly changing intellectual and commercial cultures of Glasgow and Edinburgh as they entered the great years of the Scottish Enlightenment. Above all he explains how far Smith’s ideas developed in dialogue with those of his closest friend, the other titan of the age, David Hume.

Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life (The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History)

Yale University Press

This fascinating intellectual biography of Adam Smith dramatically rewrites the economist’s life and offers new insight into his iconic concepts The great eighteenth-century British economist Adam Smith (1723–90) is celebrated as the founder of modern economics. Yet Smith saw himself primarily as a philosopher rather than an economist and would never have predicted that the ideas for which he is now best known were his most important. This biography shows the extent to which Smith's great works, The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments, were part of one of the most ambitious projects of the Euruopean Enlightenment, a grand “Science of Man" that would encompass law, history, and aesthetics as well as economics and ethics, and which was only half complete on Smith’s death in 1790.
Nick Phillipson reconstructs Smith’s intellectual ancestry and shows what Smith took from, and what he gave to, in the rapidly changing intellectual and commercial cultures of Glasgow and Edinburgh as they entered the great years of the Scottish Enlightenment. Above all he explains how far Smith’s ideas developed in dialogue with those of his closest friend, the other titan of the age, David Hume.

In this book—a new and revised edition of his 1989 classic—Nicholas Phillipson shows how Hume freed history from religion and politics, and became one of the most important philosophers ever to write in English. A giant of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, David Hume was one of the most important philosophers ever to write in English. He was also a brilliant historian. In this book—a new and revised edition of his 1989 classic—Nicholas Phillipson shows how Hume freed history from religion and politics. As a philosopher, Hume sought a way of seeing the world and pursuing happiness independently of a belief in God. His groundbreaking approach applied the same outlook to Britain's history, showing how the past was shaped solely through human choices and actions.
In this analysis of Hume's life and works, from his university days in Edinburgh to the rapturous reception of his History of England, Nicholas Phillipson reveals the gradual process by which one of the greatest Western philosophers turned himself into one of the greatest historians of Britain. In doing so, he shows us how revolutionary Hume was, and why his ideas still matter today.

David Hume: The Philosopher as Historian

This collection of essays, all by preeminent exponents of the history of political thought, explores the political ideologies of early modern Britain. Organized on a broadly chronological basis, the topics addressed by individual scholars reflect in general the themes initiated and inspired by the work of the distinguished intellectual historian, J. G. A. Pocock, for whom the collection is intended as a tribute. Each of the sixteen contributors have thought long and critically about Pocock's seminal contributions to the subject, and in each essay engages with the debates he has provoked. Professor Pocock has responded to the essays and provided his personal interpretation of the themes they invoke.

Political Discourse in Early Modern Britain (Ideas in Context, Series Number 24)

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Cambridge University Press

Adam Smith (British Lives)

The great eighteenth-century British economist Adam Smith (1723–90) is celebrated as the founder of modern economics. Yet Smith saw himself primarily as a philosopher rather than an economist and would never have predicted that the ideas for which he is now best known were his most important. This biography shows the extent to which Smith's great works, The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments, were part of one of the most ambitious projects of the Euruopean Enlightenment, a grand “Science of Man" that would encompass law, history, and aesthetics as well as economics and ethics, and which was only half complete on Smith’s death in 1790.Nick Phillipson reconstructs Smith’s intellectual ancestry and shows what Smith took from, and what he gave to, in the rapidly changing intellectual and commercial cultures of Glasgow and Edinburgh as they entered the great years of the Scottish Enlightenment. Above all he explains how far Smith’s ideas developed in dialogue with those of his closest friend, the other titan of the age, David Hume.

History

Europe

A new edition of a classic introduction to the history of eighteenth-century Scotland. First published in 1970 it has acquired a new relevance in light of the current political situation in post-devolution Scotland. Explores the history of government, politics, religion, law, education and ideology in this remarkably fertile period and characterises some of the astonishing cultural and economic achievements of this 'semi-independent' eighteenth-century country.

Scotland in Age Improvement: Scotland in the Age of Improvement

Mitchison, Rosalind

Edinburgh University Press

The University of Edinburgh: An Illustrated History

This pioneering work is an attractively written and illustrated history of the University of Edinburgh since its origins in the late sixteenth century. The book covers the Reformation, the Enlightenment (in which the university played a central role), the introduction to the university syllabus of science and medicine, and the changing relationship between the university on the one hand and the city, the nation, and the United Kingdom and Europe on the other.

Lynch,Michael

Anderson,Robert

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Phillipson, Nicholas. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Phillipson, Nicholas

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Phillipson, Nicholas. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life

David Hume: The Philosopher As Historian

Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life (The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History)

Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life (The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History)

David Hume: The Philosopher as Historian

Political Discourse in Early Modern Britain (Ideas in Context, Series Number 24)

Adam Smith (British Lives)

Adam Smith (British Lives)

Scotland in Age Improvement: Scotland in the Age of Improvement

The University of Edinburgh: An Illustrated History