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The Menard Family George Washington Forum will host Andrew Wilkins discussing "鈥楾he Science of Man鈥� and the Problems of the Wealth of Nations: History and Philosophy in the Scottish Enlightenment" on Nov. 7, at 6 p.m. in Baker University Center 240.

Wilkins is the . He specializes in British and Irish Economic History, the emergence of social, economic, and political modernity, empire, industrialization, and the Anthropocene. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. from the University of Chicago.

鈥淭he Forum is fortunate to have Dr. Wilkins on board,鈥� said Cortney Rodet, director of the George Washington Forum and associate professor of economics in the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio University. 鈥淗e joined us this year after completing his Ph.D. at UT Austin, bringing with him expertise in a variety of fields. His contributions to OHIO鈥檚 missions of teaching and scholarship have been immediate. As a scholar of the Scottish Enlightenment, he speaks to the history, politics, economics, and philosophy of the time, so his talk on Adam Smith鈥檚 comprehensive project will offer something valuable to a broad audience. Everyone is invited to attend.鈥�

will analyze the question of why Adam Smith undertook an Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in Eighteenth Century Scotland. Why did he make, in his words, a 鈥渧ery violent attack...upon the whole commercial system of Great Britain?" Ultimately these concerns were part of a broader attempt to construct a 鈥淪cience of Man,鈥� a prototypical social science, based upon David Hume's radical assault upon the whole philosophical system of Europe. To understand those prior questions, Wilkins argues that we must understand that science.

This talk seeks to answer the questions of what the 鈥淪cience of Man鈥� was, what was Smith鈥檚 goal in constructing it, and how did it relate to the pressing political questions of his day. Only in doing so can not only the 鈥淲ealth of Nations,鈥� but Smith鈥檚 wider project, be understood. Moreover, only in doing so can we see how Smith鈥檚 context lay at the very core of his work, and what that context means for our readings of Smith today.

This event is free and open to the public.