Beyond Self-Interest and Altruism: A Reconstruction of Adam Smith's Theory of Human Conduct
- 1 October 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Economics and Philosophy
- Vol. 6 (2) , 255-273
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266267100001243
Abstract
I attempt a reconstruction of Adam Smith's view of human nature as explicated in The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). Smith's view of human conduct is neither functionalist nor reductionist, but interactionist. The moral autonomy of the individual, conscience, is neither made a function of public approval nor reduced to self-contained impulses of altruism and egoism. Smith does not see human conduct as a blend of independently defined impulses. Rather, conduct is unified, by the underpinning sentiment of sympathy.This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
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