Adam Smith Reading Group

Friday, February 10, 2023 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM EST
Buchanan Hall, D180

The reading group meets five Fridays a semester, from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM, in Buchanan Hall D180 (in person only, an online option is not available) and is graciously supported in part by The Institute for Humane Studies.

This term (Spring 2023) we will read selections from David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, and Literary, ed. E.F. Miller, Liberty Fund, 1987. Online access to the publication can be found here.  We have some copies of the books available for graduate students. Interested students should write to ematson@mercatus.gmu.edu.

Articles in bold are the focal readings for this session, the remainder are optional:

Pages xxxi–xlix; 5333–537; 3-79

• “My Own Life”
• Adam Smith’s letter to Strahan
• "Of Essay-Writing" [this is the only essay we list here out of order]
• “Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion”
• “Of the Liberty of the Press”
• “That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science”
• “Of the First Principles of Government”
• “Of the Origin of Government”
• “Of the Independency of Parliament”
• “Whether the British Government Inclines More to Absolute Monarchy, or to a Republic”
• “Of Parties in General”
• “Of the Parties of Great Britain”
• “Of Superstition and Enthusiasm”

For more information on the Adam Smith Reading Group, click here.