Overview
Adam Smith develops a theory of moral judgment based on sympathy, the imagined perspective of others, self-command, propriety, virtue, and the social need for mutual approval.
This title is catalogued in Economics & Economic Thought. Its reading profile is Long and Advanced, with themes including sympathy, morality, virtue, justice, self interest.
One-Page Summary
Before Adam Smith wrote about markets, he wrote about the strange human ability to care about one another. The Theory of Moral Sentiments begins with sympathy: people can imagine themselves in another person’s situation and, by doing so, judge actions according to how they appear from a shared social standpoint. We do not simply ask what we want; we learn to monitor ourselves through the imagined eyes of others. Smith develops this into a theory of moral judgment involving propriety, self-command, praise, blame, justice, and virtue. He is especially interested in the tension between immediate feelings and the impartial standpoint we gradually learn to adopt.
A person may want revenge in private but recognize, after stepping outside the self, that restraint is more appropriate. Society therefore acts as a training ground for moral judgment. Smith does not reduce morality to selfishness, nor does he claim that sympathy automatically makes people good. Human beings can be vain, partial, and easily misled. Institutions and social expectations matter because they shape the habits through which moral judgments are made. The book offers a surprisingly rich picture of human motivation, and it changes the way readers often imagine Smith himself.
The economist associated with self-interest begins here by asking how people become capable of caring what happens to someone else—and how much of morality depends on learning to see yourself from a distance.
Key Themes
Sympathy: This title is tagged with sympathy as one of its main themes.
Morality: This title is tagged with morality as one of its main themes.
Virtue: This title is tagged with virtue as one of its main themes.
Justice: This title is tagged with justice as one of its main themes.
Self interest: This title is tagged with self interest as one of its main themes.
Society: This title is tagged with society as one of its main themes.