Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue Paperback – January 31, 2011

by Ryan Patrick Hanley

Excellent Book

Paperback

First published June 22, 2009

About the author

Ryan Patrick Hanley is Professor of Political Science at Boston College, he was the Mellon Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, and held visiting appointments or fellowships at Yale, Harvard and the University of Chicago.

He is a specialist on the political philosophy of the Enlightenment period. His books include Our Great Purpose: Adam Smith on Living a Better Life (Princeton, 2019) and The Political Philosophy of Fénelon (Oxford, 2020).

Reviews

[Joseph Steinberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I would have preferred in Hanley’s account was less of the setup required to prove that we should take Section VI seriously and more of the diagnosis and the remedy. Of course, I missed the chance to read Smith for his argument. Still, more Smith and less academic politics would have convinced anyone why they should plow into dense philosophical text. Dealing with capitalism is a very intimate, pressing issue. A more intimate guide is an interesting prospect.

http://humesbastard.wordpress.com/201...

[Waseem Naser · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Adam Smith problem for a long time was why he didnt explicitly tackle the question of "wherein does virtue consist?", one of the two questions he begins the TMS with. This book brilliantly paints the way Smith went about tackling it. Refreshing as well was Hanley's approach of explaining it by bringing in Rousseau into the picture.