Nota bene: Below is another short excerpt from Chapter 6 of my forthcoming book with Salim Rashid, Das Adam Smith Problematic? Ethics, Economics and Society. (Footnotes are below the fold.)

“Adam Smith was enrolled in Balliol College for six academic terms: July 1740 to August 1746. But his Oxford period poses more questions than answers. First and foremost, what was the young scholar studying during this time? Was he really ‘studying theology with the intent of becoming an Episcopalian pastor’?[1] Is there any evidence of Smith using the Balliol College library or the primary Oxford library, the Bodleian, during his years at Oxford?[2] Also, why did he continue to hold his Snell Exhibition and continue receiving a stipend until 1749, i.e. for three additional years after leaving Oxford in 1746?[3] Lastly, was Smith ever awarded a degree by Balliol College?

“By way of background, Smith was awarded a Snell Exhibition in March of 1740. The Snell was a coveted scholarship allowing a select number of Glasgow University students to study at Oxford. This award was founded by the bequest of Sir John Snell in 1677,[4] and under the terms of his original bequest, the recipients of this award were required to study theology, take holy orders in the Anglican Church(!), and return to Scotland.[5] Although Smith eventually returned to Scotland, he never joined the clergy. In fact, it is also unclear if he was even awarded a degree by Oxford at all.[6] On the original cover page of Smith’s second great work, The Wealth of Nations, which was first published in 1776, Smith’s post-Oxford law degree and his membership in the Royal Society of London are prominently displayed: ‘Adam Smith, LL.D. and F.R.S.’ (Smith was awarded a Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree by the University of Glasgow in 1762,[7] and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in May of 1767.[8]) By contrast, the original cover page of the first edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, published in 1759 (i.e. after Smith had attended Oxford but before receiving his LL.D. from Glasgow), makes no reference to a degree.

“But of all these college-era enigmas, perhaps the most significant one is Smith’s fateful decision in August of 1746 to ditch Oxford. More specifically, did this decision, perhaps the most momentous inflection point in the Scottish scholar’s life, have anything to do with his views on religion? Did Smith experience a crisis of faith? Did he perhaps undergo a reverse conversion, so to speak, from religion to natural philosophy? Although Smith’s religious views are unclear at best, if he was ever a devout believer at any time in his life, wouldn’t it have been while he was still young and impressionable? When Smith left Oxford for good, he was 23.”

[1] McCloskey 2023, p. 9.                                                          

[2] Rashid 2025, p. 666.

[3] See, e.g., Campbell & Skinner 1982, p. 26.

[4] See Addison 1901, p. 43.                                                      

[5] Ibid., p. 15.                                                                            

[6] See, e.g., Kennedy 2009.

[7] The original Dean of Faculty meeting minutes ratifying the conferral of Smith’s honorary degree is held by the Archives and Special Collections of the University of Glasgow. See GUAS Ref: GUA 26645, p. 110, https://perma.cc/KH6Q-9D8J. According to these meeting minutes, the Doctor of Laws (“LL.D.”) degree listed next to Adam Smith’s name on the cover page of The Wealth of Nations was awarded to Smith by the University of Glasgow on 21 October 1762.

[8] See, e.g., Buchan 2006, p. 89. Curiously, although Smith was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on 21 May 1767, he was not admitted until 27 May 1773. See Mossner & Ross 1987, p. 131, n.1 (Corr. No. 108).