One of my favorite talks at Glasgow University’s “Adam Smith 300” conference was “Adam Smith–the first true liberal” by Professor Deirdre McCloskey. Among other things, three observations she made stood out for me: 1. for McCloskey, Adam Smith is something akin to a secular saint; 2. we know, however, very little about Smith the man; and 3. his name is invoked by people of all political persuasions–progressive and classical liberals alike.
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I am familiar with Professor McCloskey’s work, but I am a little intrigued by the assumption of Adam Smith being the first true liberal.
I have always thought of John Locke being the philosopher deserving of this title. I am curious if this lecture was recorded or if it has been previously detailed in writing (white paper, book, etc.).
I too am likewise intrigued, and I will find out if there is a recording of McCloskey’s talk or an actual paper of hers. Either way, I can definitely see why Locke has a strong claim to be considered the first true classical liberal over Smith, but Locke and Smith did, in fact, differ over the theory behind their classical liberalism: Locke is in the contractarian or “social contract” tradition, while Smith rejects social contract theory in his Lectures on Jurisprudence — as does Hume, by the way, in Hume’s essay “Of the original contract”!!! The key, then, is whether this difference in the source of our liberty matters. I will have to pose this very question to McCloskey next time I see her!