Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998)

Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by protomyth on Sunday March 13, 2022 @08:54AM (#30660818)

Or you could read Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations yourself as it is available for free from multiple sources. You should his book The Theory of Moral Sentiments first. It helps with the understanding of the later material.

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by grlass on Sunday March 13, 2022 @09:39AM (#30661100)

WoN is a good read, though I hope you like reading a lot about how the price of Scottish wool changed year-on-year

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by ipaddr on Sunday March 13, 2022 @10:38AM (#30661578)

Only now will I look up the book

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by MaxGanzII on Sunday March 13, 2022 @09:00AM (#30660859)

In what way?

The subjects are utterly different.

All I can think of is that it introduces you to Smith and his style of writing. To my eye, this is not of any particular value.

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by protomyth on Sunday March 13, 2022 @09:02AM (#30660873)

It gives you a primer on his thought process and views which is useful to understand the later work. Understanding an author's beliefs can help interpretation of works.

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by psyc on Sunday March 13, 2022 @09:04AM (#30660888)

Not writing style. The way he thinks. "Where he's coming from." Some of what his values and worldview are, etc.

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by bobthechef on Sunday March 13, 2022 @09:37AM (#30661087)

From Wikipedia:

“ The Theory of Moral Sentiments is a 1759 book by Adam Smith.[1][2][3] It provided the ethical, philosophical, psychological, and methodological underpinnings to Smith's later works, including The Wealth of Nations (1776), Essays on Philosophical Subjects (1795), and Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue, and Arms (1763) (first published in 1896).”

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by MaxGanzII on Sunday March 13, 2022 @10:34AM (#30661537)

Wikpedia can write what it likes; to my eye that's empty prose.

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by mdp2021 on Sunday March 13, 2022 @11:11AM (#30661887)

You are supposed to attempt convincing the reader that "your eye" has public merit, credentials, arguments.

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by Supermancho on Sunday March 13, 2022 @02:02PM (#30663969)

> "your eye" has public merit, credentials, arguments.

I'm not convinced Wikipedia has that either. Some things it gets factually correct, granted. The subjectivity that is selected by wikipedia editors to characterize, is always in question.

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Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998) by meowkit on Sunday March 13, 2022 @02:24PM (#30664234)

> The subjectivity that is selected by <insert pretty much anything here> to characterize, is always in question.

So provide something more convincing, not in question, and not subjective. Same problem as your parent comment.

Wikipedia is nice because it is mostly inter-subjective - there are always multiple authors monitoring its state to come to a consensus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersubjectivity

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