In January 2009, scholars gathered at Balliol College, Oxford, for a three-day meeting titled The Philosophy of Adam Smith. The conference commemorated the 250th anniversary of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which first appeared in 1759. It ran from 6 to 8 January and was organised jointly by the International Adam Smith Society and The Adam Smith Review.
Why the book mattered
Smith is better known today for his economics, but in his own time it was The Theory of Moral Sentiments that made his name. Recent scholarship has pushed back against the idea that Smith simply endorsed free markets, and has instead emphasised how central his moral philosophy was to his overall project. The conference set out to examine the book in that light.
The setting
Balliol was the college Smith himself attended between 1740 and 1746, which gave the event a personal connection with its subject. The anniversary fell at the start of the year, and the programme included an exhibition about his time at the college.
Who organised it
Two people led the organisation: Vivienne Brown, then editor of the Review, and Samuel Fleischacker, then president of the International Adam Smith Society.
Support
The organisers thanked several sponsors, including the Mind Association, Routledge, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Arts Faculty and the Economics Department at the Open University.
More detail
See the plenary speakers, the session speakers, the day-by-day programme and the guide to visiting Oxford. Return to the home page.