On Thu, 19 Aug 2010, Mike Beggs wrote:
> I'm not that moved, but he is a pretty witty writer
Yes it's the ironic wit that makes it such a pleasure to read. And it's the same with the other authors Carrol rightly cites (Gibbons, Boswell, Johnson). (Note to Carrol: one reason to single out Smith is because these others are all already rightly famous for being great prose stylists. That Smith belongs in their company would probably surprise most people.) In 18th century Britain, it seems wit wasn't considered antithetical to seriousness in social science, history or philosophy. Back when scholars were gentlemen rather than professionals.
As for Judith Butler, to be fair, her writing and speech-making on Israel the last five years have been exemplars of clarity, concision and pith.
Michael