Forgotten Foundations

by Peter Sawtell, Executive Director, Eco-Justice Ministries

[1-25-02]

I went to the library looking for a fun novel, and came home with a book on moral philosophy. And I'm delighted.

I make it a habit to browse the "new books" shelf for fiction because it opens the possibility for serendipitous discoveries. Rather than stick with familiar authors or this week's best seller list, the new books display exposes me to unusual, even quirky, writings that I would never see otherwise. It is a discipline that I highly recommend.

The book that I stumbled across is Saving Adam Smith, a novel by economics professor Jonathan B. Wight. The story line has the 18th Century economist -- famous for his phrase about the "invisible hand" of the market -- making an appearance in modern America. The mind and spirit of Smith "channel" through an unwilling mechanic, and convey Smith's frustration that his nuanced theories have been turned into a caricature.

Wight is a creative enough author that his odd plot device works well as a tool for building a dialogue across a 250 year historical gap. It is evident that the book is grounded in solid scholarship. What's more, it is actually fun reading.

The author has an agenda in spinning this story of "academic fiction." He knows that Smith's work remains a powerful influence and justification in modern economic thought and policy development. The problem he addresses is that only a part of Smith's message has been remembered, and that the forgotten parts are of great importance.

Smith's character asserts that the well-known practical economics from The Wealth of Nations have to be placed on the foundation of his earlier philosophical writings. The prior book (The Theory of Moral Sentiments) held up a fundamental concern for justice, the cultivation of virtue, and concern for the community. Taking those principles into account puts Smith's later writings about self-interest and the invisible hand into a very different context.

Wight is clearly a fan of Smith's thinking, and an advocate of capitalism. He is also deeply concerned about the ruthless shape of markets in the modern world. The novel is an amusing and enticing way to introduce us to the depth of Smith's thought, and to engage us in thinking about moral issues that are at the heart of our economic life.

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I hesitate to draw too close a parallel between the historic discovery of Jewish sacred texts and Wight's fictionalized reminders about the foundations of Adam Smith's economic theory. But both go to show that a tradition which loses its moral moorings can be distorted into something which bears little relation to its worthwhile roots.

Josiah and Judaism were transformed when they rediscovered their foundations. I only wish that a fresh reading of Smith's Moral Sentiments would provoke the leaders of today's nations and corporations into a similar depth of repentance and reform.

Shalom!

Peter Sawtell, Executive Director, Eco-Justice Ministries

On the web: www.eco-justice.org
E-mail: ministry@eco-justice.org

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