Adam Smith: The Father of Modern Economics and His Theories

Sociological Theory: Adam Smith and Karl Marx

Although not considered sociologists by profession, early thinkers like Adam Smith and Karl Marx sought to answer the fundamental question of what constitutes a society.

Adam Smith (1723-1790)

Adam Smith was born in Edinburgh, one of the cities where the industrial movement began. At the age of four, he was reportedly kidnapped by gypsies but was later rescued by his uncle. He entered the University of Glasgow at 14 and, in 1740, won a scholarship to Oxford, where he spent the following years at Balliol College.

Academic Career and Influences

In 1748, he became an assistant professor of Rhetoric and Literature in Edinburgh. He met the Scottish philosopher David Hume, who became a lifelong friend until his death in 1776 and greatly influenced Smith's economic and ethical theories.

His career at the University of Glasgow included the following appointments:

• 1751: Professor of Logic
• 1752: Professor of Moral Philosophy

He later compiled his teachings into one of his best-known works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759).

Travels and Major Works

In 1763, he left university teaching to become a tutor to Henry Scott, traveling with him for 18 months through France and Switzerland. During the trip, he met leading French physiocrats, such as François Quesnay, who defended an economic and political doctrine based on the primacy of natural law, wealth, and order. Smith opposed slavery and supported public schooling.

From 1766 to 1776, he lived in Kirkcaldy, where he wrote An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). This book is one of the most important titles in the economic discipline and is considered the first modern book on economics, marking the starting point of economics as a science independent of politics. He was called the "Father of Political Economy."

He was appointed director of customs in Edinburgh in 1778, a position he held until his death on July 17, 1790.

Core Economic and Social Ideas

Smith dealt with the enigma of the "invisible hand," explaining how prices and social order can arise from human interactions governed by self-interest within a competitive price system. He also challenged the ideas of the physiocrats and extensively analyzed the division of labor. He affirmed that through individual freedom, a self-regulating system is established within a society.