Author Archives: F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Today, 6 January, not only marks the end of my fall sabbatical and my return to teaching; it is also Three Kings Day — the feast day of the Epiphany! (PS: The word “epiphany” is derived from the Greek ἐπιφάνεια, … Continue reading →

Why not celebrate the end of Christmastide — as well as the end of my sabbatical — with a classic Cuban anthem performed by Sheila E., featuring Gloria Estefan & Mimy Succar?

Among other things, I have been reading James McPherson’s biography of Abraham Lincoln; Amos Towles’ beautiful historical fiction novel A Gentleman in Moscow; Ian Johnston’s translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses; and Stephen Greenblatt’s The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, an … Continue reading →

One detail that most of Adam Smith’s biographers get wrong is his departure date from Geneva. Dugald Stewart, for example, has Smith leaving the little republic in December of 1765 and arriving in Paris for the final phase of his … Continue reading →

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne PS: Alain Alcouffe and I will resume our series on Adam Smith in Switzerland in our next post; in the meantime, we wish our loyal readers a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

By all accounts, Adam Smith visited Geneva in the fall of 1765, yet the precise dates and locations of this brief but memorable chapter in his life are murky at best. [See, e.g., Brian Bonnyman, “Adam Smith in Geneva”, in … Continue reading →

As Alain Alcouffe and I mentioned in our previous two posts (see here and here), a dramatic political showdown was unfolding in real time in Rousseau’s Republic of Geneva during Adam Smith’s sojourn in Switzerland, a constitutional stalemate that Smith … Continue reading →

As Alain Alcouffe and I mentioned in our previous post, a dramatic political showdown was unfolding in real time in the Republic of Geneva during Adam Smith’s sojourn in Switzerland, for in November 1765 the General Council of Geneva had … Continue reading →