Adam Smith's theory on morals provided the philosophical bedrock for his future works on economics, including his most famous book The Wealth of Nations. Published in 1759, this work sees Smith follow the lead of his tutor and mentor Francis Hutcheson. He divides his ethical examinations into four broad categories: ethics and virtue; private rights and natural liberties; rights of the family; and state and individual rights. The book is comprised of seven principle parts: In the first, Smith discusses the ...
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Adam Smith's theory on morals provided the philosophical bedrock for his future works on economics, including his most famous book The Wealth of Nations. Published in 1759, this work sees Smith follow the lead of his tutor and mentor Francis Hutcheson. He divides his ethical examinations into four broad categories: ethics and virtue; private rights and natural liberties; rights of the family; and state and individual rights. The book is comprised of seven principle parts: In the first, Smith discusses the propriety of mankind, and its relation between the adversity and prosperity of the individuals who make up a society. The various emotions through which the sympathy of others is elicited, and how the passions of individuals interact, conflict or compliment their propriety is considered. Part Two focuses upon the merits and demerits appearing in civil society, the means through which people are gratified and rewarded, and punished or reprimanded. Smith discusses justice, comparing the ideas of remorse and considering justice alongside virtue. Part Three considers how people enjoy to be praised, but are repelled by blame. How the everyday population behaves in connection with established moral principles, as through religion and the concept of the deity, as well as the sense of duty affecting personal interaction with society. Part Four discusses how the concept of utility affects artistic beauty, and whether the merit and skill in creating works of art is itself a component of utility, due to its cultural impact. Part Five discusses the ideas of beauty and deformity, and how society's fashions and customs impact upon and affect instances of each. Part Six examines the character of man; how he attains happiness, and suffers adversity and hardship. Smith is particularly interested in prudence; an emotional state of caution which he held as central to the gradual development of an individual and the wider society. The final part retrospectively asks questions about the theory of moral sentiments. We revisit each part in turn, discussing how the principles of virtue and approbation affect the various emotions and tenets of the human being. Although lesser known compared to Adam Smith's later works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments is an influential work of philosophy in its own right, with the greatest effect being upon its author.
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Add this copy of The Theory of Moral Sentiments to cart. $41.62, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2016 by CreateSpace Independent Publis.
While the current laissez-faire capitalists hold up Adam Smith as their model, the real Adam Smith was first and foremost a teacher of moral philosophy in his native Scotland. Read his ideas on natural and desirable human virtues such as sympathy. Contrast that with the real author of our current form of capitalism, Ayn Rand, who declared compassion a vice. Compare Smith's ideas on moral duties with Rand's derision of "do-gooders," as her followers call those who use their education to help others. Compare Smith's altruistic concern for the human condition and how to better the economic condition of all free people by concentrating on lifting ourselves out of miserable economic conditions and fostering the cooperation and peace needed for capitalism instead of devoting our lives to the constant European religious wars with which Smith was so familiar.
This book will give you the necessary insight into the vision of the future author of the Wealth of Nations and the world he hoped to foster. Contrast that with the highly SOLE and separate self-interest of Ayn Rand and you will begin to see how dangerous philosophies can be when their ideas are usurped by those who do not understand the philosophy or change it into something Smith would not recognize and I believe would find abhorrent, based on the ideas he presented in The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Rand was scarred by almost dying in her flight from totalitarian communism and naturally reacted to government as "the enemy."
It is ironic that those who hold government to be their natural enemy think they are following Adam Smith, who was a government bureaucrat and believed government naturally provided some necessary services for the people that smaller fragmented entities could not provide or provide as efficiently! A must read for those interested but perhaps bewildered by their own economic condition and the conflicting moral messages sent by Smith vs. Rand.
