Adam Smith, Stoicism and religion in the 18th century

This article explores the influence of Stoicism and religion on Adam Smith. While other commentators have argued either that the main influence on Smi th was Stoicism or that it was religion, the two influences have not been e xplicitly linked. In this article I attempt to make such a link, arguing th at Smith can be seen as belonging to the strand of Christian Stoicism chief ly associated with his teacher, Francis Hutcheson. Finally, some comments a re made about the implications of this interpretation for current understan ding of the work of Adam Smith.