ABSTRACT
When one thinks of the sources which were instrumental in developing Adam Smith’s own ideas, the name of David Hume probably comes to mind first. Then, perhaps, other contemporary thinkers of the era, such as Francis Hutcheson or Henry Home, would follow closely behind. These thinkers were important contributors to a milieu in which Smith was intellectually nurtured and in which he reflected upon the central issues of his day. At the same time, one would likely recall that Smith spent two years in France and begin thinking of Turgot or the French Physiocrats as sources of his economic thought. In this connection too, one might remember some laudatory comments on Smith’s part about Voltaire. In general, a list such as this seems to be the standard accounting of the sources of Adam Smith’s thought.
