This is the first full analysis of Adam Smith's jurisprudence; it emphasizes its normative and critical function, and relates this to the psychological, sociological, and historical aspects which hitherto have attracted most attention. Dr Haakonssen is critical of both purely descriptivist and utilitarian interpretations of Smith's moral and political philosophy, and demonstrates the implausibility of regarding Smith's view of history as pseudo-economic or 'materialist'. By drawing on all of Smith's works, he shows that the framework for Smith's discussion is an interesting theory of human knowledge which leads to an original philosophy of history.
The book will interest scholars and students of moral, political, and legal philosophy, and their histories, eighteenth-century history, andthe history of ideas.
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