Ibn Khaldun or Adam Smith- who is the actual ‘father’
Opinion piece
(Girish Sharma)
Despite Ibn Khaldun's overall contribution to economics, Adam Smith is largely regarded as the
"Father of Economics." Schumpeter's assessment of Smith's economics is critical rather than
praising. Personally, I disagree, because I still see Adam Smith as one of the great thinkers who
has made major contributions to the subject of economics despite being only a collector of
earlier economic ideas. In an excellent new form and approach, he ended up eloquently
explaining the earlier thoughts in depth.
Despite Ibn Khaldun's contributions, several economic theories and economic philosophy of
choice were later ascribed to Adam Smith without appropriate acknowledgment to the original
thinker Ibn Khaldun. "Smith's famous economic book comprises both his 'preaching' and
'gospel' of economic liberalism, i.e., economic liberty for all persons." Because there is such
remarkable similarities between Ibn Khaldun's and Adam Smith's economic philosophy, it must
be left to the economic historian to identify direct or indirect linkages between these two great
philosophers who lived four centuries apart.
However, I'd want to recommend some potential and probable sites of connection. Even though
Adam Smith did not directly mention Ibn Khaldun's contributions, it is possible that he came
across the latter's pioneering and unique economic theory through multiple ways.
Adam Smith studied from Glasgow University, where he was inspired by Francis Hutcheson,
who was influenced by Antony Ashley Cooper, known as Lord Shaftesbury in the late
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and other thinkers interested in "liberal
enlightenment," most of whom may have been directly or indirectly impacted by Ibn Khaldun's
philosophy. After graduation, Adam Smith spent six years researching at Oxford University's
library, where he may have come across Ibn Khaldun's contributions even if he was unaware of
the author's identity.
It was not uncommon for ideas to be exchanged, debated, and handed from one generation to
the next without the author's identity. Furthermore, since the Crusades of the eleventh and
thirteenth centuries, most Western philosophers have sought to minimise the effect of Muslim
intellectuals through a variety of methods, including utilising Muslim ideas without stating the
name of a Muslim author.
The long struggle undertaken by the Crusaders to seize the Holy Land from the Muslims
developed a strong adversarial emotion in the Western mentality, which Western intellectuals
were not immune to and which lasted for centuries, possibly until current times. Another
probable path via which Adam Smith may have been exposed to Ibn Khaldun's economic ideas
was his trip of Europe. During this visit, he met Quesnsay, fellow Physiocrats in Paris, and other
European thinkers who may have been inspired in some manner by Ibn Khaldun.
Opinion piece
(Girish Sharma)
Despite Ibn Khaldun's overall contribution to economics, Adam Smith is largely regarded as the
"Father of Economics." Schumpeter's assessment of Smith's economics is critical rather than
praising. Personally, I disagree, because I still see Adam Smith as one of the great thinkers who
has made major contributions to the subject of economics despite being only a collector of
earlier economic ideas. In an excellent new form and approach, he ended up eloquently
explaining the earlier thoughts in depth.
Despite Ibn Khaldun's contributions, several economic theories and economic philosophy of
choice were later ascribed to Adam Smith without appropriate acknowledgment to the original
thinker Ibn Khaldun. "Smith's famous economic book comprises both his 'preaching' and
'gospel' of economic liberalism, i.e., economic liberty for all persons." Because there is such
remarkable similarities between Ibn Khaldun's and Adam Smith's economic philosophy, it must
be left to the economic historian to identify direct or indirect linkages between these two great
philosophers who lived four centuries apart.
However, I'd want to recommend some potential and probable sites of connection. Even though
Adam Smith did not directly mention Ibn Khaldun's contributions, it is possible that he came
across the latter's pioneering and unique economic theory through multiple ways.
Adam Smith studied from Glasgow University, where he was inspired by Francis Hutcheson,
who was influenced by Antony Ashley Cooper, known as Lord Shaftesbury in the late
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and other thinkers interested in "liberal
enlightenment," most of whom may have been directly or indirectly impacted by Ibn Khaldun's
philosophy. After graduation, Adam Smith spent six years researching at Oxford University's
library, where he may have come across Ibn Khaldun's contributions even if he was unaware of
the author's identity.
It was not uncommon for ideas to be exchanged, debated, and handed from one generation to
the next without the author's identity. Furthermore, since the Crusades of the eleventh and
thirteenth centuries, most Western philosophers have sought to minimise the effect of Muslim
intellectuals through a variety of methods, including utilising Muslim ideas without stating the
name of a Muslim author.
The long struggle undertaken by the Crusaders to seize the Holy Land from the Muslims
developed a strong adversarial emotion in the Western mentality, which Western intellectuals
were not immune to and which lasted for centuries, possibly until current times. Another
probable path via which Adam Smith may have been exposed to Ibn Khaldun's economic ideas
was his trip of Europe. During this visit, he met Quesnsay, fellow Physiocrats in Paris, and other
European thinkers who may have been inspired in some manner by Ibn Khaldun.
