This week, Regard Libre publishes a special report on the current state of liberalism, looking at the thinking of the great authors who have left their mark on this philosophical, political and economic movement.

Each month, Le Regard Libre presents a philosopher whose thinking differs from, or even runs counter to, certain clichés circulating about him or her. In this article, historian of philosophy Daniel Schulthess explains how Adam Smith's famous concept of the «invisible hand» made him one of the fathers of economics and liberal thought. But our guest editor also shows that Smith, in his work, proposes a different vision of human beings and society than the current proponents of «neo-liberalism», as defined in this article.