Adam Smith: The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Where to buy Adam Smith: The Theory of Moral Sentiments books online?
Product Description
Adam Smith’s major work of 1759 develops the foundation for a all-purpose system of morals, and is a text of central importance in the history of moral and political thought. Through the thought of sympathy and the mental construct of an unbiased spectator, Smith formulated highly original theories of conscience, moral judgment and the virtues. This volume offers a new edition of the text with helpful notes for the student reader, and a substantial introduction that establishes the work in its philosophical and past context.
Buy Cheap Adam Smith: The Theory of Moral Sentiments Online
Related posts:
I read this book when I was a grad student effective in a dull lab. It helped me pass through persons long nights lacking being bored… and I learned something from it. It makes me reflect aboyt some issues that I have never thought about. It is not a book for everyone. It is for sme people who want to question why… about many social issues.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Like many fantastic thinkers who are scorned by the disciples of collectivism, Adam Smith (1723-1790) displays a depth of understanding that is rather alien to the white noise that too regularly passes for our intellectual life. Anyone familiar with his work knows that his precision and the organization of his opinion border on perfection.
Another aspect of his writing that stands out is his acknowledgement of reality. This is not to be taken for granted; not long after his death, the flirtation with Socialism started, forever scarring the cultural landscape.
Smith was not interested in fantasies, but rather in improving the lot of real people, via a truly scientific analysis of human society. His legacy was inherited by thinkers such as Tocqueville and Hayek, but sorry to say it did not make deep inroads into the dominant strains of 20th century social science.
Smith is best known for his magnum opus, “The Wealth of Nations.” His additional writing should not be neglected. This includes, of course, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments.” Different in tone, it is painstakingly Smithian in its depth and its approach to reality. Here, his grasp of the entire range of the human condition shines into the world in all its brilliance.
Predictable is his juxtaposition of “beneficence” (like, kindness, and mercy) with justice. Justice, says Smith, must be ranked as a privileged priority. His reasoning is as follows. Man, being the social animal that he is, “can subsist only in society.” And that society can survive only if its members extend to one another mutual help. The preferable scenario:
“Where the necessary help is reciprocally afforded from like, from gratitude, from friendship, and esteem, the society flourishes and is pleased. All the different members of it are bound together by the agreeable bands of like and affection, and are, as it were, drawn to one common centre of mutual excellent offices.”
If this should prove impossible, society can still function adequately by recognizing the utility and necessity of mutual help:
“Society may subsist among different men, as among different merchants, from a sense of its utility, lacking any mutual like or affection; and though no man in it should owe any obligation, or be bound in gratitude to any additional, it may still be upheld by a mercenary exchange of excellent offices according to an agreed valuation.”
But if this arrangement is eroded, society will find itself in dire straits:
“Society, but, cannot subsist among persons who are at all times ready to hurt and injure one another. The moment that injury starts, the moment that mutual resentment and animosity take place, all the bands of it are broken asunder, and the different members of which it consisted are, as it were, dissipated and scattered abroad by the violence and challenger of their discordant affections. If there is any society among robbers and murderers, they must at least, according to the trite observation, abstain from robbing and murdering each additional. Beneficence, therefore, is less essential to the being of society than justice. Society may subsist, though not in the most comfortable state, lacking beneficence; but the popularity of injustice must utterly ruin it.”
What a chilling premonition of our own flirtation with over-inflated beneficence–such as victim worship–at the expense of justice.
It is a measure of his intellectual honesty that Smith can point to the futility, from the standpoint of the individual, of the obsession with wealth and power. In a passage reminiscent of Ecclesiastes, he writes:
“In the langour of disease and the tiredness of ancient age, the pleasures of the vain and empty distinctions of greatness disappear…In this miserable aspect does greatness appear to every man when cut-rate, either by spleen or disease, to observe with attention his own situation, and to consider what it is that is really wanting to his happiness. Power and riches appear then to be, what they are, enormous and operose machines contrived to produce a few trifling conveniences to the body, consisting of springs the most nice and delicate, which must be kept in order with the most nervous attention, and which, in spite of all our care, are ready every moment to burst into pieces, and to crush in their ruins their unfortunate possessor.”
Despite this sober view of human foibles, Smith once again rises to his role as the consummate social scientist, separating personal behavior and motivation from its effect on the whole:
“And it is well that scenery imposes upon us in this manner. It is this deception [of wealth and power] which rouses and keeps in continual motion the industry of mankind. It is this which first prompted them to cultivate the ground, to erect houses, to establish cities and commonwealths, and to invent and improve all the sciences and arts, which ennoble and embroider human life…”
There is much to learn from this genius of Western civilization.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Content Synopsis: Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments outlines his belief that our morality comes from our natural sentiments and our sense, not only of self-like, but also of the need of the praise and affection of others. Morality comes, in fleeting, from our emotional need of praise, in tandem with the “Unbiased Spectator”, a kind of voice of conscience and reason that evaluates our conduct in comparison and contrast with that of our peers. Morality must be rooted primarily in sentiment and in reason for Smith. While human beings have a self-centered capacity, this is not exclusive in its orientation, as our need for additional’s praise and support forces us to constantly consult our feelings and our “unbiased spectators” within our breast. Belief in God or Providence, for Smith, will undoubtedly help in this endeavor.
Analytical Review: Persons who reflect Smith emphasized the Invisible Hand in his works should read this book as a corrective. Smith mentions the “Invisible Hand” just 3 times in all his writings. The “Unbiased Spectator’, I would guess, is mentioned well over a 100 times in this work, and plays a enveloping part throughout Smith’s work. Humans are not inherently self-interested. Although we have a strong capacity to be self-interested, the Unbiased Spectator in our mind permanently watches over our shoulder and that of our social peers, adjusting our conduct. Smith places a high emphasis on Stoic virtues such as self-mandate (control), and while he does approve of social rank an order and is a conservative here, he also indicates some clear sense of responsibility and giving back to society.
I find aspects of Smith’s theory compelling, but parts of his book also overwritten. Amidst some large tracks of monotonously written text, but, are a few gems of wisdom for the ages.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
This is an intriguing book with some thoughts that are very appealing. He uses reasoning involving human behavior that all economists should be aware of.
The hard 18th century language is more hard because the book is a photo copy of the original. The only thing i didn’t like about the book is that he does not try to prove many vital points and the reader must make some leaps to follow his logic.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
I permanently wanted to read Adam’s two classic books. If you interest in study of modern economics and/or our culture, then these books are vital. See how Adam’s views differ from today.
“….Moral Sentiments” is the better of the two books.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5