Adam Smith: The Theory of Moral Sentiments

by Adam Smith , Edited by Knud Haakonssen

• ISBN13: 9780521598477
• ISBN10: 0521598478
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-02-04
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) lays the foundation for a general system of morals, and is a text of central importance in the history of moral and political thought. It presents a theory of the imagination which Smith derived from David Hume but which encompasses an idea of sympathy that in some ways is more sophisticated than anything in Hume's philosophy. By means of sympathy and the mental construct of an impartial spectator, Smith formulated highly original theories of conscience, moral judgment and the virtues. The enduring legacy of his work is its reconstruction of the Enlightenment idea of a moral, or social, science encompassing both political economy and the theory of law and government. This volume offers a new edition of the text with clear and helpful notes for the student reader, together with a substantial introduction that sets the work in its philosophical and historical context.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
Chronology	xxv
Further reading	xxvii
Note on the text	xxix
Abbreviations	xxxi
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Advertisement	3	(2)
Contents	5	(6)
Of the propriety of action	11	(67)
Of merit and demerit; or, of the objects of reward and punishment	78	(50)
Of the foundation of our judgments concerning our own sentiments and conduct, and of the sense of duty	128	(81)
Of the effect of utility upon the sentiment of approbation	209	(18)
Of the influence of custom and fashion upon the sentiments of moral approbation and disapprobation	227	(21)
Of the character of virtue	248	(65)
Of systems of moral philosophy	313	(92)
Index	405