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Our Great Purpose

Adam Smith on Living a Better Life
  • and
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2019

About this book

Invaluable wisdom on living a good life from the founder of modern economics

Adam Smith is best known today as the founder of modern economics, but he was also an uncommonly brilliant philosopher who was especially interested in the perennial question of how to live a good life. Our Great Purpose is a short and illuminating guide to Smith's incomparable wisdom on how to live well, written by one of today's leading Smith scholars.

In this inspiring and entertaining book, Ryan Patrick Hanley describes Smith's vision of "the excellent and praiseworthy character," and draws on the philosopher's writings to show how each of us can go about developing one. For Smith, an excellent character is distinguished by qualities such as prudence, self-command, justice, and benevolence—virtues that have been extolled since antiquity. Yet Smith wrote not for the ancient polis but for the world of market society—our world—which rewards self-interest more than virtue. Hanley shows how Smith set forth a vision of the worthy life that is uniquely suited to us today.

Full of invaluable insights on topics ranging from happiness and moderation to love and friendship, Our Great Purpose enables modern readers to see Smith in an entirely new light—and along the way, learn what it truly means to live a good life.

Author / Editor information

Ryan Patrick Hanley is professor of political science at Boston College. He is the author of Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue and the editor of Adam Smith: His Life, Thought, and Legacy (Princeton) and the Penguin Classics edition of Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

Reviews

"A gem of a book, offering fresh insights into Smith’s writings and drawing holistic connections that make his philosophy come alive."---Jonathan Wight, The American Economist --- "This excellent book deserves a wide audience and should be required reading for every college freshman."---J. H. Spence, Choice Reviews --- "An essential text of practical wisdom."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer --- "

Hanley is a distinguished political scientist at Boston College who has specialized in Smith; here in thirty short chapters he concentrates his accumulated expertize to deliver an Ariadne’s thread to guide the reader through the multiple issues Smith introduces and explores. . . . This should be passed out to all beginning students of Economics.

"---Patrick Madigan, Heythrop Journal --- "An accessible, erudite, and concise introduction to Adam Smith in full, the moral philosopher of wisdom and prudence."---Jordan Ballor --- "[Adam] Smith had a way of pulling all aspects of human society together, from eating and drinking with friends to trading on the stock exchange. To separate them destroys the larger picture. . . . While Smith never advocated 'a single best way for all people to live,' . . . [he] deftly connected all human activity into a single, philosophical portrait, and Our Great Purpose makes a compelling case for us to study it closely."---David J. Davis, Wall Street Journal --- "Ryan Patrick Hanley has provided a succinct, witty and informative work on the relevance of Adam Smith today, mercifully released from the old 'father of capitalism' misrepresentation. . . . An excellent primer on the true Smith."---Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

Topics

  • Publicly Available

    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    vii
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    Introduction

    1
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    I. On Self-Interest

    11
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    II. On Caring for Others

    15
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    III. On Acting for Others

    19
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    IV. On Imagination

    23
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    V. On Bettering Our Condition

    28
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    VI. On Miseries and Disorders

    32
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    VII. On the Healthy Mind

    36
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    VIII. On Tranquility and Pleasure

    40
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    IX. On Worshipping Wealth

    44
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    X. On Friendship

    49
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    XI. On Pleasure

    52
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    XII. On Hatred and Anger

    56
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    XIII. On Being Loved

    60
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    XIV. On Loving

    64
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    XV. On Flourishing

    69
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    XVI. On Being Lovely

    74
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    XVII. On Seeing Ourselves

    78
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    XVIII. On Dignity

    83
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    XIX. On Equality

    88
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    XX. On Choice

    92
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    XXI. On Self and Others

    96
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    XXII. On Perfection

    101
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    XXIII. On Wisdom and Virtue

    105
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    XXIV. On Humility and Beneficence

    109
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    XXV. On Praise and Praiseworthiness

    113
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    XXVI. On Socrates

    116
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    XXVII. On Jesus

    121
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    XXVIII. On Hume

    125
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    XXIX. On God

    130
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    Epilogue. Why Smith Now?

    133
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    Table of Quotations

    139
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    Texts and Further Reading

    141
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    Notes

    149
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    Acknowledgments

    157
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
October 8, 2019
eBook ISBN:
9780691197753
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
View content
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691197753
eBook ISBN: 9780691197753
Keywords for this book
Self-interest; The Theory of Moral Sentiments; Philosopher; Philosophy; The Wealth of Nations; Thought; Ethics; Wealth; Stoicism; Political philosophy; Religion; Multitude; Feeling; Magnanimity; Greatness; Tax; Humility; Book; Hatred; Renunciation; Self-love; Sharing; The Various; Virtue; Concept; Excellence; Consciousness; Monasticism; Anger; Selfishness; Princeton University Press; Invisible hand; Jurisprudence; Suggestion; Morality; Our Choice; Theology; Of Education; Good and evil; Cloister; Exertion; Lecture; Sensibility; Liberty Fund; Critique; Epistemology; Republic (Plato); Lectures on Jurisprudence; Age of Enlightenment; Economic growth; Writing; James Otteson; Commodity; Voucher; Career; Basic Books; Edmund Husserl; Routledge; Altruism; Generosity; Social philosophy; Frugality; Affection; Philosophy Today; Thomas Hobbes; Resentment; Quantity; Aphorism; Vernon L. Smith; David Hume
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
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