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Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) stands as a foundational text in moral philosophy and a key to understanding Smith's later economic writings, especially The Wealth of Nations. While Smith is often narrowly remembered as the father of modern economics, The Theory of Moral Sentiments reveals a philosopher deeply concerned with the moral underpinnings of social life, virtue, and human sympathy. It is a work of profound psychological insight and philosophical subtlety, aimed at describing the mechanisms by which individuals form moral judgments and sustain a society grounded not merely in self-interest but in mutual regard.At the heart of Smith's theory lies the concept of sympathy, a term he uses to describe the imaginative process by which individuals project themselves into the situations of others. Sympathy, for Smith, is not mere pity or compassion but the capacity to enter into another's emotions, to go along with their feelings, whether of joy, grief, or resentment. This faculty enables moral judgment: we approve of others' sentiments and actions when we can share in them; we disapprove when we cannot. Smith introduces the concept of the impartial spectator as the internalized standard against which we measure the propriety of our own and others' behavior. This spectator is an idealized, disinterested observer whose imagined presence guides us toward virtue by helping us moderate our passions and actions.Crucially, Smith distinguishes between propriety and merit. Propriety concerns the appropriateness of one's emotions or actions in a given context; merit concerns their deservedness, particularly in the context of reward or punishment. These distinctions allow Smith to explain the complexity of moral judgment, which, he argues, arises not from abstract principles or divine command, but from the ordinary interactions of social beings equipped with the capacity for sympathy.Smith's ethical framework is sentimentalist in the tradition of David Hume, emphasizing feeling over reason as the foundation of morality. However, Smith differs from Hume in his more elaborate theory of social interaction and moral development. While Hume attributes moral approval largely to utility and habit, Smith focuses on the dynamic, interactive nature of moral life. We desire not only to be loved but to be lovely—that is, to be worthy of others' esteem. Thus, our pursuit of virtue is tied deeply to our social nature.Smith identifies several virtues—prudence, justice, beneficence, and self-command—as essential to moral life. Justice, for Smith, is unique in being enforceable: society must maintain justice as the main pillar of the moral structure, since its violation directly harms others. In contrast, beneficence—doing good to others—is a virtue that cannot be compelled, yet is crucial to social cohesion. Self-command is the master virtue, allowing individuals to regulate their desires and emotions in accordance with the impartial spectator's standards. The work also contains a sophisticated account of moral development. In early life, individuals are guided by external approval and disapproval; gradually, they internalize these judgments, forming a conscience aligned with the impartial spectator. Thus, society and self mutually construct the moral agent. Moral norms arise organically from human interactions rather than being imposed by authority or derived from rationalist axioms.Although written in the idiom of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith's work prefigures many modern concerns, including the psychological bases of morality, the role of emotion in ethical judgment, and the social construction of the self. His analysis of how market societies function morally, not just economically, provides a necessary complement to The Wealth of Nations. Where the latter examines the benefits of self-interest under a system of natural liberty, The Theory of Moral Sentiments reminds us that social harmony depends on a deeply rooted moral sense—cultivated through sympathy, moderated by self-command, and guided by the impartial spectator.In sum, The Theory of Moral Sentiments presents a compelling vision of human morality as both natural and cultivated, grounded in our capacity to sympathize and our desire for mutual esteem. It is a vision in which the economic man of Smith's later work is reimagined as a moral agent—social, emotional, and reflective. Far from a mere prelude to economic thought, the Moral Sentiments is a masterwork in its own right, offering enduring insights into the human condition.
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