The Theory of Moral Sentiments to Which is Added a Dissertation on the Origin of Languages

by Adam Smith

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAP. III. Of the manner in which we judge' of the propriety or impropriety of the aff'etlions of other men, by their concord or dif/'onance ivitb our ' .U . own. IJ H E N the original paffions of the perfon principally concerned .are in perfect concord with the fympathetic emotions of the fpectator, they necefTarily appear to this laf t juft and proper, and fuitable to their objects; and, on the contrary, when, upon bringing the cafe home to himfelf, he finds that they do not coincide with what he feels, they neceflarily appear to him unjuft and improper, and unfuitable to the caufes which excite them. To approve of the paffions of another, therefore, as fuitable to their objects, is the fame thing as to obferve that we entirely fympathize with them; anj not to approve of them as fuch, is the fame thing as to obferve that we do not entirely fympathize with them. The man who re- fents the injuries that have been done to me, and obferves that I refent them precifely as he does, neceflarily approves of my refentment. The man whofe fympathy keeps time to my grief, cannot but admit the reafonablenefs of my forrow. He who admires the fame poem, or the fame picture, and admires them exactly as 1 do, muft furely allow the juftnefs of my admiration. He who laughs at the fame joke, and laughs along with me, cannot well deny the propriety of my laughter. On the contrary, the perfon who upon thefe different occafions, either feels no fuch emotion as that which I feel, or feels none that bears any proportion to mine, cannot avoid difapproving my fentiments on account of their diflbnance with his own. If my animofity goes beyond what the indignation of my friend can cor- refpond to j if my grief exceeds what his moft tender compaffion can go along with; if my admiration is eit...

Genres: Philosophy

108 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2012

About the author

For other authors of this name, see Adam Smith.

Adam Smith FRSA FRS FRSE was a Scottish philosopher and economist who was a pioneer in thinking on political economy and a key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. He wrote two classic works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter, often abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations , is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work that treats economics as a comprehensive system and as an academic discipline.

Authorities recorded his baptism on 16 June 1723 at Kirkcaldy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adam Smith's treatise on morality and ethics was far more interesting than I first anticipated. Much of the book struck me more as a work of rhetorical theory than one of philosophy or ethics. One might describe Smith's approach to morality as phenomenological; he is observing how morality comes to be or is made to appear to us. In the process, he often takes a contextual approach that shows how visions of morality come to be different in various times and places. This interesting approach is considerably complicated by Smith's use of conjectural history to structure his observations based on a hierarchized dichotomy between the civilized and the savage. HIs dissertation on the origin of languages is also worth a read, as it gives us a look into the kind of logic many Scottish enlightenment thinkers used in structuring their abstractions about history and society. Though this work is often seen as secondary to his economic theory, the influence of Smith's theories on language, rhetoric, and morality should not be understated.