Co-sponsored by Liberty Fund, Inc., this program is an intellectually demanding and stimulating weekend colloquium that explores the foundations of liberty in a mixture of graduate-level text-based, guided Socratic discussion and lecture sessions. This colloquium is for Acton alumni who are currently enrolled or have recently completed graduate level work.
This colloquium on Adam Smith on Ethics & Economics will explore the model Adam Smith proposes in the Theory of Moral Sentiments to account for the growth and development of ethics, and it will also consider the main thesis of his Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Smith understands both ethics and the market to be systems of order that are unintentionally developed by individuals as they strive to satisfy their interests. The desire for mutual sympathy and the drive to better our condition in life are the basic social motivations that give rise to these unintended systems of moral and economic order. This conference proposes to explore the similarities, differences, and the relation between the two systems (the moral and the economic).
- This colloquium will consist of 2 lecture sessions and 6 guided Socratic discussion sessions.
- The discussion sessions are text-based and so selected participants are required to prepare appropriately and participate fully in all sessions.
- Readings will be provided to all accepted participants.
- This colloquium is for Acton alumni who are currently enrolled or have recently completed graduate level work.
