Enlightenment, Impartial Spectators, and Griswold's Smith

Taken as a whole, the secondary literature on Adam Smith leaves one with a rather disturbing conclusion--that understanding of Smith is determined largely by the context within which he is read. Harpham discusses Charles Griswold's "Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment," which Harpham believes is a masterful commentary on Smith's work that will change how contemporary scholars think about Smith's place in the history of ideas.