ABSTRACT

This book contributes to the ‘new view’ reading of Adam Smith, providing a historically and contextually rich interpretation of Smith’s thought. Smith built a moral philosophy on the foundations of a natural theology of human sociality. Examination of his life, relationship with David Hume and use of divine names shows that he retained a progressive form of Christian theism. The book interrogates the metaphor of the ‘invisible hand’ and highlights the importance of the religious dimension of Adam Smith’s thought for his moral philosophy, his jurisprudence and his economics. It reflects on the contemporary relevance of a theological reading of Smith and lays the ground for further inquiry between economic and religious perspectives.

chapter 1|8 pages

Searching for the real Smith

chapter 2|8 pages

A synopsis of the corpus

chapter 3|29 pages

Situating Smith

Personal and intellectual influences

chapter 4|54 pages

Smith's Christian faith?

chapter 5|33 pages

Smith's natural theology of society 1

chapter 6|39 pages

The invisible hand

chapter 7|13 pages

Smith's Christian God

chapter 8|36 pages

Why Smith's theism matters today