Adam Smith: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy)

by Knud Haakonssen (Editor)

• New

  Paperback
  2002

  $42.16

  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 2002 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.

• New

  paperback
  

  $21.79

  Best known for his revolutionary free-market economics treatise The Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith was first and foremost a moral philosopher. In his first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments , he investigated the flip side of economic self-interest: the interest of the greater good. Smith's classic work advances ideas about conscience, moral judgement and virtue that have taken on renewed importance in business and politics.