Adam Smith Reading Group
The reading group meets five Fridays a semester, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM, in Buchanan Hall room D180. The group reads mostly eighteenth-century literature relating to Smith, political economy, natural jurisprudence, and liberalism. The group periodically reads Smith's Essays on Philosophical Subjects, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, Lectures on Jurisprudence, and correspondence.
Spring 2026: For the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we will read a classic about 1776: Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution.
*Note: page numbers taken from fiftieth anniversay edition.
Schedule for Spring 2026:
January 30: Chs. I & II, "The Literature of the Revolution" & "Sources and Tradition" (pp. 1 – 54)
February 13: Chs. III & IV, "A Theory of Politics" & "The Logic of Rebellion" (pp. 55 – 159)
March 6: Ch. V, "Transformation" (pp. 160 – 229)
April 3: Ch. VI, "The Contagion of Liberty" (pp. 230 – 319)
April 17: Postscript, "Fulfillment" (pp. 321 – 379)