"Adam Smith's "Science of Human Nature
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4297602 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher J Berry (0000-0002-3512-3604, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 471-492 |
| Publication date | 2012-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History of Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2702 • E-ISSN: 1527-1919 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/00182702-1717257 |
| OpenAlex | W2057883258 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 31 |
We do not find in Smith any programmatic statement about the nature of human nature only, rather, a profuse scattering of remarks. We can, however, be confident that he shared the aspirations of the "Enlightenment project," within which, indeed, self-awareness of a "conception of man" was focal. There was a convergence on the idea that human nature is constant and uniform in its operating principles. By virtue of this constancy human nature was predictable so that once it was scientifically understood then, as Hume argued, a new foundation was possible for, inter alia, morals, criticism, politics, and natural religion. While Smith is more circumspect, he shares Hume's ambitions for the "science of man," which Smith calls the "science of human nature" and which he believes was, even in the seventeenth century, in its "infancy." This essay aims to explicate what Smith implies about this "science
Adam smith · Criticism · Economics · Enlightenment · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Foundation (evidence · Natural (archaeology · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Statement (logic · Virtue · Economic Theory and Institutions · History · Law · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism
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Reciprocity in Smith
Recent Engagements with Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment
Lectures on jurisprudence
Inventing Human ScienceEighteenth-Century Domains
The Impartial Spectator
Adam Smith's Moral Philosophy
An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding
Adam Smith's Marketplace of Life
Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres
A System of Social Science
Hume, Hegel and Human Nature
Adam Smith in Context
The Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, Vol. 5
Adam Smith, Aristotle, and the Virtues of Commerce
Thought and Action
The Enlightenment
Adam Smith's Political Philosophy
The Fragility of Goodness
Smith's Humean Criticism of Hume's Account of the Origin of Justice
Adam Smith's Considerations on Language
"Adam Smith's "Considerations Concerning the First Formation of Languages
Economic Sentiments
"Theological (and Hence Economic) Implications of Adam Smith's "Principles which Lead and Direct Philosophical Enquiries
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,91 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2024 (10) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |