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Adam Smith: Quick Facts

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Facts

Baptized June 5, 1723
Died July 17, 1790 • Edinburgh • Scotland
Notable Works “The Wealth of Nations” • “The Theory of Moral Sentiments”
Subjects Of Study division of labour • economic growth • invisible hand • political economy • competition • human nature • social evolution
Role In Scottish Enlightenment

Photos

Adam Smith
Engraving by John Kay of Adam Smith standing in profile beside a round table with books and papers, wearing 18th-century attire with a tricorn hat and holding a cane.
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John Elliott Cairnes
British economist
David Hume
David Hume
Scottish philosopher
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
British philosopher and economist
English economist David Ricardo
David Ricardo
British economist
Marble bust of Aristotle with a beard and draped robe, showing detailed facial features and wavy hair, set against a dark background.
Aristotle
Greek philosopher
Socrates
Socrates
Greek philosopher
The Greek philosopher Plato
Plato
Greek philosopher
Justus of Ghent: Saint Augustine
St. Augustine
Christian bishop and theologian
Profile portrait of Immanuel Kant facing right, framed by a green Ouroboros serpent forming an oval, with a geometric symbol below the frame.
Immanuel Kant
German philosopher
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
German philosopher
Engraved portrait of Benedict de Spinoza by Friedrich Roth-Scholtz, showing Spinoza in formal 17th-century attire with a circular symbol in the upper left corner.
Benedict de Spinoza
Dutch-Jewish philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher
Giambattista Vico
Giambattista Vico
Italian philosopher
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels
German philosopher
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
German philosopher
Xunzi
Xunzi
Chinese philosopher
Scratchpad: Black-and-white formal portrait of philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson smiling, wearing a tailored jacket with a brooch and a bow-tied blouse before a curtain. Alt text: Black-and-white portrait of philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson smiling in a tailored jacket, brooch, and bow-tied blouse.
Judith Jarvis Thomson
American philosopher
Auguste Comte
Auguste Comte
French philosopher
Bernard Williams
Bernard Williams
English philosopher
Portrait of Jeremy Bentham, English social reformer and philosopher, shown with thinning hair, wearing a high-collared shirt and dark coat, looking slightly to the side.
Jeremy Bentham
British philosopher and economist

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