Adam Smith

Scottish political economist and philosopher Adam Smith (1723–1790) was the son of the Comptroller of the Customs at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. He attended University of Glasgow and Oxford University and was deeply influenced by Francis Hutcheson, the well-known professor of Moral Philosophy. In 1751, Smith was appointed Professor of Logic at University of Glasgow where he lectured on Ethics, Rhetoric, Jurisprudence, and Political Economy. Smith is the author of the seminal works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), The Wealth of Nations (1776), and the posthumously published Essays on Philosophical Subjects (1795). The Wealth of Nations has played a significant role in creating the subject of political economy and developing it into an autonomous and systematic discipline.