...members of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith gave little weight to innate differences: The difference in natural talents in different men is, in reality, much...aware of; and the very different genius which appears tc distinguish men of different professions, when grown up to maturity, is not upon many occasions...

...may originally have been more marginal than we care to admit. The point was well made by Adam Smith: The difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of. . . . The difference between the most dissimilar characters, between a philosopher and a common street...

...philosopher's "vanity" makes him skeptical. Smith explains this to vindicate the more general proposition that the "difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of" ( WN I.ii.4). This is as strong an argument for natural equality as appears in The Wealth of Nations.12...

...produce of its industry, or, rather, is precisely the same thing with that exchangeable value." 1 9. "The difference of natural talents in different men is in reality much less than we are aware of." Wealth of Nations, Book I, ch. ii. 20. "Mit diesen philosophischen Ueberzeugungen tritt nun Adam Smith...

...interesting to note that Smith sees a strong and pervasive equality of talents among human beings. "The difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of." It is "habit, custom, and education" which account for the major differences. What does bring about...

...talents" argument. No sooner had Smith introduced the idea, in the passages cited above, than he adds that "the difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of."19 This applied even to philosophers, a class designated for rule in Plato's Republic because of...

...were essentially like other people, save for a verbal veneer. Hence this passage in Wealth of Nations: The difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of. ... The difference between the most dissimilar characters, between a philosopher and a street porter,...

...justified hy differences in natural talent, as Locke or Madison for example, assumed. Smith wrote: The difference of natural talents in different men...different professions, when grown up to maturity, ts not upon many occasions so much the cause, as the effect of the division of Lahour. The difference...

...Difference For James L.Johnston, Jr. who has thought about this subject throughout his life Introduction The difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of ... The difference between the most dissimilar characters, between a philosopher and a common street...

...which might result in comparative advantages for particular tasks, also believed that "the differences of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of"28 and were, according to him, more often the result than the cause of division of labor. Labor...