Smith on Teleology: A Reply to Alvey (Adam Smith, James Alvey ) (Critical Essay‪)‬

James Alvey (1) likes much about my interpretation of the role of teleology in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations but finds five gaps and two major flaws. I shall not comment on his summary of my original article, since it is very good and entirely accurate. I proceed directly to the purported gaps and flaws. While it is true that I did not define teleology in so many words, it was the implicit burden of the first several paragraphs of my paper to give the reader a clear sense of what I mean by the term. I do not think that subscribers to a history of economics journal need (or want) to know about the long-term rise and fall of the doctrine. I admit it would have helped to note that teleological tenets were widespread in eighteenth-century Europe and taken very seriously by renowned scholars, among them Smith's own teachers and friends (as has been demonstrated for instance by Moore 2000, Ross 2000 and Tanaka 2003).