Dennis Rasmussen on Hume and Smith and The Infidel and the Professor

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Russ Roberts interviews Dennis Rasmussen about his book on David Hume and Adam Smith, focusing on their friendship, the Scottish Enlightenment, and how their ideas overlapped and diverged. The conversation covers morality, sympathy, commerce, liberty, religion, and why Smith’s works became more famous despite Hume’s equal importance.

Main Topics: The Scottish Enlightenment in 18th-century Scotland (Priority: 5/5): Rasmussen explains how Scotland transformed from a poor, repressive society into a major intellectual center through parish schools, strong universities, clubs, publishing, church moderation, and the political-economic effects of the 1707 Union. Hume’s philosophy and influence (Priority: 5/5): Hume is presented as a leading empiricist and skeptic whose work on causation, morality, religion, history, and politics profoundly shaped later thought, including Smith’s. Smith as a moral philosopher in dialogue with Hume (Priority: 5/5): The discussion emphasizes that The Theory of Moral Sentiments responds to and extends Hume’s ideas about sympathy, moral judgment, and the impartial standpoint, while also correcting and deepening them. Commerce, happiness, and moral effects (Priority: 4/5): The conversation contrasts Hume’s highly positive view of commercial society with Smith’s more ambivalent but still broadly favorable view, especially Smith’s concern that wealth-seeking can damage tranquility and virtue. Commerce and liberty (Priority: 5/5): Roberts and Rasmussen discuss Smith’s major claim that commerce and manufacture helped destroy feudal dependency and produce liberty and security, a point Rasmussen says Smith explicitly credits Hume with anticipating. Religion, skepticism, and public posture (Priority: 4/5): The episode explores Hume’s open irreligion versus Smith’s more cautious, ambiguous stance, including Smith’s treatment of Hume after his death and the controversy it generated. Friendship, correspondence, and intellectual history (Priority: 3/5): The episode closes by reflecting on how Hume and Smith sustained a deep friendship largely through letters and occasional visits, and how their ideas continue to matter today.

Key Arguments: Hume and Smith were both products of the Scottish Enlightenment, but that movement was enabled by institutions and political change rather than genius alone. Hume’s moral theory holds that morality comes from human sentiments, corrected by a general or common point of view rather than by pure reason or divine command. Smith’s impartial spectator is a more developed version of Hume’s general point of view, showing that Smith extends rather than simply copies Hume. Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments is deeply engaged with Hume even when Hume is not named, partly because Hume’s Treatise was published anonymously and partly because Smith often alluded indirectly to him. Hume’s view of commerce is more uniformly positive than Smith’s; Smith sees commerce as beneficial but also psychologically and socially corrosive in ways Hume understates. Smith’s key historical claim is that commerce and manufactures produced liberty and security by undermining feudal dependence and the power of landed lords. Hume anticipated many political-economy arguments later made famous by Smith, especially about free trade and the folly of mercantilism. The so-called Adam Smith problem is less of a contradiction than it appears because The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations address different human and social problems. Smith likely held a skeptical deist position rather than orthodox Christianity; his public caution about religion may have reflected temperament, career incentives, and awareness of Hume’s treatment. Smith’s tribute to Hume after his death caused major controversy because it described Hume, an unbeliever, as ‘wise and virtuous.’

Data Points: Years between Hume and Smith: 12 years - Roberts notes Hume was 12 years older than Smith, shaping their intellectual sequence and overlap. Hume’s History of England: 6 volumes - Rasmussen describes Hume’s massive History of England as a bestseller and long-standing standard history. Smith’s surviving letters to Hume: 15 - Rasmussen says the archive contains 15 letters from Smith to Hume. Hume’s surviving letters to Smith: 41 - Rasmussen says the archive contains 41 letters from Hume to Smith. Smith’s editions of The Theory of Moral Sentiments: 6 editions - Rasmussen notes that Smith revised the book over time, with later editions becoming less religious. Publication after leaving Glasgow: 3rd edition in 1767 - Rasmussen says the first softening of the book’s religious undertones came in the third edition, after Smith left Glasgow. Final edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments: 6th edition in 1790 - Rasmussen notes the final edition was less religious still. Hume’s work on politics and economy: Decades before The Wealth of Nations - Rasmussen argues Hume anticipated Smith’s free-trade and commerce arguments well before 1776. Time to travel between Glasgow and Edinburgh early in Smith’s career: A full day - Rasmussen uses travel time to illustrate the practical difficulty of frequent face-to-face contact. Time to travel after road improvements: About half a day - Rasmussen says road improvements shortened the trip later in Smith’s Glasgow period.

Pivotal Quotes: "Commerce and manufacturers gradually introduced order and good government, and with them the liberty and security of individuals among the inhabitants of the country who had before lived almost in a continual state of war with their neighbors and of servile dependency on their superiors." — Adam Smith (quoted by Dennis Rasmussen): Rasmussen highlights this as Smith’s most important statement in The Wealth of Nations about commerce producing liberty. "Upon the whole, I have always considered him, both in his lifetime and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty will permit." — Adam Smith (quoted by Dennis Rasmussen): Smith’s posthumous tribute to Hume in the letter to Strahan, which sparked controversy because Hume was an unbeliever. "The all-wise author of nature has in this manner taught man to respect the sentiments and judgments of his brethren" — Adam Smith (quoted by the transcript host): Roberts cites this passage from The Theory of Moral Sentiments to show Smith’s view of moral self-regulation and providential order.

Implications: The episode suggests that modern liberal thought emerged from a rich dialogue between Hume and Smith, not from isolated geniuses. For listeners, it reframes commerce, morality, and liberty as historically intertwined and shows how friendship can shape enduring ideas.