Alain Alcouffe and I now wish to conclude our series of blog posts on “Adam Smith and the salons of Paris” with a question and with a tentative observation. Specifically, did the salons of pre-revolutionary Paris have any influence on Smith’s intellectual development? Or more generally, why does it matter whether the Scottish philosopher attended some soirées or soupers at these salons during his 1766 sojourn in the French capital? After all, although some scholars claim the salons played a central role in Europe’s literary and intellectual circles, others have painted a less rarified and more snobbish picture of these sumptuous spaces as frivolous and light-hearted affairs. (See, for example, the scholarly work by Antoine Lilti posted below.) Whichever of these competing pictures of the pre-revolutionary salons is the more accurate one, our tentative conclusion is that Smith’s mere presence in these salons may represent a turning point in his intellectual development. Why? Because the salons were not just a special space to exchange ideas or engage in polite conversation; they also epitomized the opulence and luxury of 18th-century Europe and thus may have informed Smith’s argument on the “Progress of Opulence in different Nations” (see Book III of Smith’s Wealth of Nations) and his overall view of “commercial society” more generally. But just how much influence, and in which direction? Those questions will be the subject of future research.