IASS 2025

Session

F.2 SESSION: ADAM SMITH AND POLITICS

29 Mar 2025, 11:00

ROOM 2

43. Adam Smith and Liberalism

John Thrasher

29/03/2025, 11:00

While both classical liberals and libertarians claim Adam Smith as their intellectual forefather, this paper argues that Smith's thought represents a distinctive form of liberalism that differs fundamentally from later traditions. Unlike utilitarian, social contract, or Millian approaches, Smith's liberalism is grounded in a realistic assessment of human nature and social possibilities rather...

41. Adam Smith the Dissenter

Maria Pia Paganelli (Trinity University)

29/03/2025, 11:30

Adam Smith was against mercantilism and against monopolies in a time where mercantilism and monopolies prevailed. He was against slavery in a time when slavery was the norm. He was against the Empire in a time in which the Empire he was a subject of was at its peak. He was against colonialism in a time in which colonialism was the backbone of power. He was against taxation without...

47. Adam Smith’s Critique of Monopoly: Is there a natural system of economic liberty?

Chandran Kukathas (Singapore Management University)

29/03/2025, 12:00

In the Wealth of Nations Adam Smith presents a critique of the spirit of monopoly for the way in which it led to policy that privileged the few at the expense of the many. Implicit in this view is the idea that those who gained an advantage from the privileges they secured were what we could now call rent-seekers, who were able to alter the rules of economic exchange for their own benefit....