Abstract

Fonna Forman-Barzilai

Smith’s anti-cosmopolitanism

This paper argues that Smith was systematically anti-cosmopolitan.  It pieces together his view of the world (the international realm) as remarkably unsympathetic (very literally, without sympathy), deeply pluralistic morally (without universal truths), and prone to conflict (without law or oversight). Three questions are raised.  First, why did Smith believe the world was like this?  Why did he believe that cosmopolitanism was implausible in such a world?  And how did he ultimately talk about larger and broader spaces in face of his anti-cosmopolitanism?