Educating a Young Aristocrat during Grand Tour: Moral and Political Economy in Adam Smith

Abstract

As a tutor for a ‘Grand Tour’, Adam Smith both taught and exercised his moral philosophy for his pupil, the third Duke of Buccleuch. Moral education in Smith’s moral philosophy has, in general, been less discussed, partly because of its descriptive, not prescriptive, tone. Smith’s prescriptive suggestions, if anything, required of ordinary citizens only thin or light morality, different from what the word ‘virtues’ normally reminds us of at present. However, Smith’s moral argument left sufficient room for developing superior morality among leading politicians and legislators, cultivated with the language of virtue, aside from basic moral sense and rules required of ordinary citizens. Smith wanted his nobleman-student to learn the virtue of ‘oeconomy’, a necessary trait for governing private land estates. This exploration into Smith’s great interest in private moral economy shall shed new light on his rich analysis of the modern political economy.