It is the paradigm of political economy as an autonomous science, distinguished from ethics and politics, that Adam Smith is considered to be the "founding father" of. However, this confinement has at time resulted in a distorted of his views with regards to the central themes of later times, making him at times to be the supporter of methodological individualism, of unconditional liaise faire and the minimal state, and of the full coherence between private and public interest. Indeed, he has been pushed out of his historical context to take on almost absurd traits. Stereotypical and anti-historical aspects of these images of Smith were often detected in the past, but only recently have they become the subject of a critique that also involves the paradigmatic character of the Smith’s work. Taking into account this extraordinary wealth of new studies, the author proposes some reasons in favour of the interpretation of Smith as the theorist of capitalism and the father of political economy.

JEL Codes: B12