Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu High School Department

Project 2.1 History Makers

Adam Smith The Father of Economics

Submitted to: Mr. Phrixel Gerald Pimentel Social Studies Teacher

Submitted by: Stephanie Andrei V. Melencion III St. Francis Xavier

Brief Biography

Adam Smith is Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economics. He was on 1723 at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland to Margaret Douglas and Adam Smith. His father was a lawyer and civil servant. He entered the University of Glasgow at the age of fourteen and studied moral philosophy. He then continued his studies at Baliol College in Oxford in the year 1740. Adam Smith then started his travels across Scotland delivering public lectures with references to his economic philosophy of the obvious and simple system of natural liberty, referring to a free market economy. He was appointed professor of logic at Glasgow University in 1751 and was transferred to be the head of Moral Philosophy. He was a member of the Philosophical Society in Edinburgh. He was often described to be a prototypical absent-minded professor. He is considered to having an eccentric but benevolent intellectual, comically absent-minded, with peculiar habits of speech and gait, and a smile of "inexpressible benignity". In 1759, he published The Theory of Moral Sentiments which was concerned with how human morality greatly depends on sympathy between individuals and other members of society. He left the university and became the tutor of the duke of Buccleuch. In 1776, he published The Wealth of Nations which became an instant success. He was then appointed to a post as commissioner of customs in Scotland. He died on July 17, 1790 after an illness and was never married. And at the end it was discovered the Adam Smith had devoted a considerable part of his income to numerous secret acts of charity.

Contributions Adam Smiths famous works would be The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations. The Theory of Moral Sentiments critically examines the moral thinking of his time, and suggests that conscience arises from social relationships. This was concerned with how human morality greatly depends on sympathy between individuals and other members of society. His goal in writing the work was to explain the source of mankind's ability to form moral judgments, in spite of man's natural inclinations towards selfinterest. He proposes a theory of sympathy, in which the act of observing others makes people aware of themselves and the morality of their own behavior. He also divided the moral system into parts (1) the nature of morality which included Prudence and Benevolence and (2) the motive of morality which included Self-love and Reason. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations or famously known as The Wealth of Nations was his greatest work or his magnum opus. It is a reflection on economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and argues that free market economies are more productive and beneficial to their societies. This book was greatly concerned with economics thus because of this work he was known to be the Father of Economics. This became an influential book to other authors, economist and government officials. He argued with his belief that a nations wealth is really the stream of goods and services that it creates. Today, we would call it gross national product. And the way to maximize it was not to restrict the nations productive capacity, but to set it free.

Reflection

Never in my life have I heard of Adam Smith-until now. I never knew that people like Adam Smith who are very intelligent, talented and gifted are very influential not only during their time but also until now. Clearly I could tell that he was a very smart person since at the age of fourteen was able to acquire scholarships at very prestigious universities. He was very generous to be able to travel Scotland and lecture for free about his knowledge in economics and etc. It wasnt a shock to me anymore to find out the he became a professor in Glasgow University since he was a very gifted individual and he was very capable of being one. He was a great influence to everyone. He played an important role in world history because of his published works. The Wealth of Nations was a very influential book which changed the course of our economy. It was a very interesting book that became a building foundation to economics. Even his Theory of Moral Sentiments talks about the reality that is present until now. He was clearly a very important person in history because he was able to make a great change; he was the Father of Economics and he Renaissance man.

Photos

Sources
http://www.adamsmith.org/the-wealth-of-nations/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations#Reception_and_impact http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Moral_Sentiments http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jun/smith.html