Abstract
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations criticised tradional universities without completely denying their value. Smith wanted radical reforms of universities, not their total destruction. Smith highly valued the social function and effect of universities and situated them within his system of social division of labor. For Smith, universities were important in social development and important in process of ‘cultural succession’ by which values of one generation are passed on. Smith recognised that universities were sometimes bad and inefficient, but he also argued that universities could work well by effective management and that public aid could be made available to them.
