Contrary to the popular opinion of Smith as champion of greed, this book claims that Smith maintained that markets served to promote the well-being of the populace and that government must intervene to counteract the negative effects of the pursuit of self-interest.

'Muller's great accomplishment in this book is to present a clear, thoughtful, and engaging overview of Adam Smith's thought. He reveals Smith to be a wide-ranging and innovative thinker who formulated a comprehensive social science.' - Peter McNamara, The Review of Politics.

Introduction: Back to Adam? Pt. IAdam Smith in His Time Cosmopolitan Provincial: Smith's Life and Social Milieu 2Gentlemen, Consumers, and the Fiscal-Military State 3Self-Love and Self-Command: The Intellectual Origins of Smith's Civilizing Project Pt. IIDesigning the Decent Society The Market: From Self-Love to Universal Opulence 5The Legislator and the Merchant 6Social Science as the Anticipation of the Unanticipated 7Commercial Humanism: Smith's Civilizing Project 8"The Impartial Spectator" 9The Historical and Institutional Foundations of Commercial Society 10The Moral Balance Sheet of Commercial Society 11The Visible Hand of the State 12Applied Policy Analysis: Smith's Sociology of Religion 13"A Small Party": Moral and Political Leadership in Commercial Society Pt. IIIFrom Smith's Time to Ours Critics, Friendly and Unfriendly 15Some Unanticipated Consequences of Smith's Rhetoric 16The Timeless and the Timely Notes Guide to Further Reading Acknowledgments Index