As I mentioned in a previous post, in the days ahead I will be reviewing Ryan Patrick Hanley’s new book about Adam Smith: “Our great purpose: Adam Smith on living a better life” (Princeton U Press, 2019), one of the most fascinating and beautiful books I have read in a long time. But before I begin, allow me first to fast-forward to the end of Professor Hanley’s tome–the next-to-last section titled “Texts and Further Readings” (pp. 141-148). For after I finished reading the book proper, the nerdy academic in me pressed on and perused Hanley’s annotated bibliography and suggestions for further reading. Suffice it to say what I found there was nothing less than a scholarly treasure trove of erudite gems. More specifically, Hanley has done his readers a great service by organizing his carefully curated yet comprehensive bibliography (see table below) by theme or subject area, pointing out the two or three most relevant papers or books about each theme and area. By way of example, Hanley’s thematic bibliography contains entries for such recondite topics as Smith’s concern for the poor, his commitment to moral pluralism, and his intellectual debts to Socrates and Plato, among many others entries. (I have compiled below a table of all the themes and subject areas covered in Hanley’s excellent bibliography. Anyone wishing to pursue any of these fascinating topics further would be well to begin here.) With this preliminary observation out of the way, we will formally get started in my next post tomorrow …

Some Themes and Subject Areas in Hanley’s Bibliography

1. Biographies of Adam Smith
2. Overviews of Smith’s thoughts on ethics and economics
3. Introductions to Smith’s first book “The theory of moral sentiments”
4. Smith’s views on self-interest
5. Smith’s approach to egoism and altruism
6. Smith’s concept of sympathy
7. The role of the imagination in Smith’s moral system
8. Smith’s concern for the poor
9. The role of happiness in Smith’s theories
10. Das Adam Smith Problem
11. Smith’s views on corruption
12. Smith’s ideas about friendship
13. Smith’s treatment of anxiety
14. Smith’s theory of law (jurisprudence)
15. Smith’s treatment of justice
16. Smith’s commitment to pluralism
17. Smith’s critique of the man of system
18. The distinction between the love of praise and the love of praiseworthiness in Smith’s thought
19. Smith’s theory of the impartial spectator
20. Smith’s commitment to equality and human dignity
21. Smith theory of virtue
22. Smith’s relationship to ancient thinkers like Socrates and Plato
23. Smith’s friendship with Hume
24. Smith’s views on religion
25. Additional books about Adam Smith by Ryan Patrick Hanley