----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- Cool question! For starters it is worth reading Hume's "Of National Characters" (it makes for uncomfortable reading, however) and "Of Refinement in the arts". Both essays are not very long and reprinted in Liberty Fund's cheap Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. In Smith, besides the passages already mentioned, the student may want to look at Book V of Wealth of Nations, especially the discussion of national defence (V.i.a) and education (V.i.f-g). Finally, the student may want to look at Adam Smith's "Letter to the Editors of the Edinburgh Review" (reprinted in Essays on Philosophic Subjects) in which Smith advocates taking a European (as opposed to a narrow national) perspective of literature and arts/sciences and about b) different national styles of science/philosophy. This is also not very long. I don't know of any secondary literature on this topic, although Donald Winch's 1978 book may not be a bad place to start looking. (See also his essay on cosmopolitianism in the Hont & Ignatieff volume.) Eric Schliesser University of Chicago ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]