The invisible “invisible hand” by adam smith

Abstract

This article analyses the meaning of Smith’s term “invisible hand”. Did he use it to describe the market’s behavior as a predetermined and inexorable path, as current economic theory assumes, or as a metaphor of “God’s hand”? To answer this question, the philosophical content of The theory of moral sentiments is explored in the context of his better-known economic work. This article seeks to contribute a debate that is common in philosophical circles yet still incipient in the field of economics in spite of the frequent references to Adam Smith in the literature of economic theory and policy.