In this introductory chapter the key words of the title, “moral” and “discourses,” are elucidated by placing them in their historical and theoretical contexts. “Moral” is understood not merely as what it means in our current usage but in the variegated senses given to the term in the eighteenth century, ranging from that which is customary and conventional to the realm of obligations sanction by religion. “Discourses” summons the non-compartmentalized state of the eighteenth-century London print market which accommodated works dealing with economic issues written by authors, both named and anonymous, coming from a broad range of backgrounds. Some notable precedents of studying the relationship between ethics, religion, and the economy are acknowledged and the difference between them and this book’s approach is clarified. Unaligned with any theoretical or philosophical stance, this book aims at reconstructing as impartially as possible the diverse and authentic voices of the primary sources as they address moral and economic questions.