What was Adam Smithâs intellectual laboratory? How did his economic theory take shape? Were his metaphors of order only residual and ornamental expressions? This book answers these questions by analyzing the formation of the concepts of market and social order in Adam Smithâs work, by considering various aspects of his approach. It analyzes how metaphors and pre-analytical concepts influenced Smithâs theory. In line with studies that deal with the cognitive role of metaphors in science, this book suggests that in Smithâs work metaphors provided a framework, on which basis the theory subsequently developed. Therefore, as such they were part of that intellectual process which made possible the formation of structured concepts. The content and scope of the book permits a more comprehensive interpretation of Smithâs thought, in which many aspects of his work are taken into consideration in order to explain a crucial problem for Smith: the nature and causes of social and economic order. The book also shows that in general, formation of theories is a complex process that includes pre-analytical views as non-residual parts of inquiry.
