Between Humanism and Market Naturalism

On the 250th anniversary of The Wealth of Nations, this article revisits Adam Smith’s legacy by examining his reception in Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation. While Polanyi sharply criticizes Smith for contributing to the naturalization of market exchange, he simultaneously presents Smith as a thinker whose political economy rests on humanistic foundations. The article reconstructs this apparent tension by critically examining Polanyi’s reception of Smith’s anthropology, theory of the division of labour, and conception of wealth. It argues that Polanyi offers a largely convincing account of Smith’s rejection of economic naturalism, while misreading Smith’s account of human motivation. The paper concludes that Smith is understood as a transitional figure: the founder of political economy whose thought remains subordinate to social purposes and therefore cannot alone ground the idea of a fully self-regulating market. This interpretation contributes to contemporary philosophical debates on market society and economic embeddedness.