ABSTRACT
Adam Smith poses a defining problem of modern political economy, namely: how and from whom individuals might obtain the extensive cooperation and assistance they require. This chapter builds a prima facie case for recasting Smith as a thoroughgoing critic of the two worlds vision of commercial society. It explores how beneficence and commerce might be theorized as complementary forms of social cooperation, consider these working definitions: Social cooperation; Commerce; Beneficence. Hayek, Coase, Boettke, and others interpret his Wealth of Nations (WN) as a discourse on impersonal commercial cooperation and The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) as a treatise on cooperation within families and other face-to-face communities. Smiths discussion of bilateral exchange between actor and spectator sets the stage for the main event in TMS. For twenty-first-century economists, Smith's most valuable gift and challenge may be his provocative effort to rethink the Stoic concept of oikeiosis, commonly translated as the act or process of appropriation or ownership.
