----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- I believe Mary Poovey, has a background in literature wrote _A History of the Modern Fact: Problems of Knowledge in the Sciences of Wealth and Society_. She looks at (among others) Petty, Smith, Ricardo, McCulloch, and Mill. I did not care much for the book, but her literary sensibility did bring out important overlooked features. Cheers! Eric Schliesser ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]