Samuel Smith's Books

Joseph Smith's Translation

The Words and Worlds of Early Mormonism

By: Samuel Morris Brown

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Joseph Smith's Translation

The Words and Worlds of Early Mormonism

By: Samuel Morris Brown

Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith, claimed to have translated ancient scriptures. He dictated an American Bible from metal plates reportedly buried by ancient Jews in a nearby hill, and produced an Egyptian "Book of Abraham" derived from funerary papyri he extracted from a collection of mummies he bought from a traveling showman. In addition, he rewrote sections of the King James Version as a "New Translation" of the Bible. Smith and his followers used the term translation to describe the genesis of these English scriptures, which remain canonical for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Whether one believes him or not, the discussion has focused on whether Smith's English texts represent literal translations of extant source documents. On closer inspection, though, Smith's translations are far more metaphysical than linguistic. In Joseph Smith's Translation, Samuel Morris Brown argues that these translations express the mystical power of language and scripture to interconnect people across barriers of space and time, especially in the developing Mormon temple liturgy. He shows that Smith was devoted to an ancient metaphysics--especially the principle of correspondence, the concept of "as above, so below"--that provided an infrastructure for bridging the human and the divine as well as for his textual interpretive projects. Joseph Smith's projects of metaphysical translation place Mormonism at the productive edge of the transitions associated with shifts toward "secular modernity." This transition into modern worldviews intensified, complexly, in nineteenth-century America. The evolving legacies of Reformation and Enlightenment were the sea in which early Mormons swam, says Brown. Smith's translations and the theology that supported them illuminate the power and vulnerability of the Mormon critique of American culture in transition. This complex critique continues to resonate and illuminate to the present day.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

321

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0190054255

ISBN 13

9780190054250

On Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations

A Philosophical Companion

By: Samuel Fleischacker

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

On Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations

A Philosophical Companion

By: Samuel Fleischacker

Adam Smith was a philosopher before he ever wrote about economics, yet until now there has never been a philosophical commentary on the Wealth of Nations. Samuel Fleischacker suggests that Smith's vastly influential treatise on economics can be better understood if placed in the light of his epistemology, philosophy of science, and moral theory. He lays out the relevance of these aspects of Smith's thought to specific themes in the Wealth of Nations, arguing, among other things, that Smith regards social science as an extension of common sense rather than as a discipline to be approached mathematically, that he has moral as well as pragmatic reasons for approving of capitalism, and that he has an unusually strong belief in human equality that leads him to anticipate, if not quite endorse, the modern doctrine of distributive justice. Fleischacker also places Smith's views in relation to the work of his contemporaries, especially his teacher Francis Hutcheson and friend David Hume, and draws out consequences of Smith's thought for present-day political and philosophical debates. The Companion is divided into five general sections, which can be read independently of one another. It contains an index that points to commentary on specific passages in Wealth of Nations. Written in an approachable style befitting Smith's own clear yet finely honed rhetoric, it is intended for professional philosophers and political economists as well as those coming to Smith for the first time.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

347

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400826055

ISBN 13

9781400826056

MEMOIRS OF SAMUEL SMITH

By: Samuel 1759-1854 Smith,Charles I. (Charles Ira) 1826 Bushnell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

MEMOIRS OF SAMUEL SMITH

By: Samuel 1759-1854 Smith,Charles I. (Charles Ira) 1826 Bushnell

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

Publisher

Wentworth Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1374470694

ISBN 13

9781374470699

A Short History of Distributive Justice

By: Samuel Fleischacker

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

A Short History of Distributive Justice

By: Samuel Fleischacker

Distributive justice in its modern sense calls on the state to guarantee that everyone is supplied with a certain level of material means. Samuel Fleischacker argues that guaranteeing aid to the poor is a modern idea, developed only in the last two centuries. Earlier notions of justice, including Aristotle's, were concerned with the distribution of political office, not of property. It was only in the eighteenth century, in the work of philosophers such as Adam Smith and Immanuel Kant, that justice began to be applied to the problem of poverty. To attribute a longer pedigree to distributive justice is to fail to distinguish between justice and charity. Fleischacker explains how confusing these principles has created misconceptions about the historical development of the welfare state. Socialists, for instance, often claim that modern economics obliterated ancient ideals of equality and social justice. Free-market promoters agree but applaud the apparent triumph of skepticism and social-scientific rigor. Both interpretations overlook the gradual changes in thinking that yielded our current assumption that justice calls for everyone, if possible, to be lifted out of poverty. By examining major writings in ancient, medieval, and modern political philosophy, Fleischacker shows how we arrived at the contemporary meaning of distributive justice.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

212

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674036980

ISBN 13

9780674036987

Book's by Samuel Smith

Joseph Smith's Translation

Joseph Smith's Translation

On Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations

On Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations

MEMOIRS OF SAMUEL SMITH

MEMOIRS OF SAMUEL SMITH

A Short History of Distributive Justice

A Short History of Distributive Justice

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email