LOVE Ronan

Doctoral researcher

University of Warwick, department of History.

Research expertise

Political and financial history (French revolution)

Contributions

Concepts

Sympathy (in Adam Smith's moral philosophy)

Adam Smith is best known as the author of An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, where, to most readers, he is the champion of the free market and the pursuit of economic self-interest. Much less appreciated, however, is his first work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which paints quite a different picture of human sociability.

Jacques Necker (and public opinion)

Jacques Necker, finance minister of France under the Old Regime (1777-1781) and then the revolution (1788-1790), was known for much more than his keen ability to mobilise credit. Thought to be an unwavering symbol of ministerial virtue by his supporters, and a fraudulent charlatan by his enemies, Necker well understood the importance of public opinion in affairs of state. Under the Old Regime, he worked hard to defend both his reputation and that of his ministry. But when the revolution came, Necker’s reputation took on a life of its own.This entry explores Necker’s changing image in revolutionary opinion to show how the revolution ultimately shifted the terms of public opinion as a form of political sociability in French politics.
People Concepts