ABSTRACT
Adam Smith was a Scottish economist, philosopher and author, as well as a moral philosopher, a proposer of free industry and trade, a pioneer of political economy and a key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Apart from his philosophical works, Smith also showed an interest in the arts and design. Indeed, J. Ruskin used Smith’s pin example to denounce the practice of division of labour. Arnold Toynbee in his Lectures on the Industrial Revolution of the 18th Century summed up the importance of Smith’s most famous work The Wealth of Nations: ‘No wonder that every page of the Wealth of Nations is illumined with an illimitable passion for freedom of industry and trade. Smith analyses the progress of a woollen coat to demonstrate the networks and interdependence of various players in the design and production of ordinary domestic objects. For Smith, the division of labour was the primary facilitator for improved productivity.
