The Theory of Moral Sentiments (First Edition)

"How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortunes of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it." (from The Theory of Moral Sentiments)

Note: This is the First edition, the 6th edition was revised and extra material added.

By : Adam Smith (1723 - 1790)

01 - Part I, Section I: Chapters I - III 02 - Part I, Section I: Chapters IV - V 03 - Part I, Section II: Intro - Chapter II 04 - Part I, Section II: Chapter III - V 05 - Part I, Section III: Chapter I 06 - Part I, Section III: Chapter II 07 - Part I, Section III: Chapter III 08 - Part II, Section I: Intro - Chapter V 09 - Part II, Section II: Chapter I - II 10 - Part II, Section II: Chapter III 11 - Part II, Sectio n III: Intro - Chapter I 12 - Part II, Section III: Chapter II 13 - Part II, Section III: Chapter III 14 - Part III: Chapter I - Chapter IIa 15 - Part III: Chapter IIb 16 - Part III: Chapter IIIa 17 - Part III: Chapter IIIb 18 - Part III: Chapter IV 19 - Part III: Chapter V 20 - Part III: Chapter VI 21 - Part IV: Chapter I 22 - Part IV: Chapter II 23 - Part V: Chapter I 24 - Part V: Chapter II 25 - Part VI: Section I 26 - Part VI: Section II 27 - Part VI: Section III Chapter Ia 28 - Part VI: Section III Chapter Ib 29 - Part VI: Section III Chapter Ic 30 - Part VI: Section III Chapter Id 31 - Part VI Section III Chapter II - Chapter III

In 1759, Smith published his first work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, sold by co-publishers Andrew Millar of London and Alexander Kincaid of Edinburgh. Smith continued making extensive revisions to the book until his death. Although The Wealth of Nations is widely regarded as Smith's most influential work, Smith himself is believed to have considered The Theory of Moral Sentiments to be a superior work.

In the work, Smith critically examines the moral thinking of his time, and suggests that conscience arises from dynamic and interactive social relationships through which people seek "mutual sympathy of sentiments." His goal in writing the work was to explain the source of mankind's ability to form moral judgement, given that people begin life with no moral sentiments at all. Smith proposes a theory of sympathy, in which the act of observing others and seeing the judgements they form of both others and oneself makes people aware of themselves and how others perceive their behaviour. The feedback we receive from perceiving (or imagining) others' judgment creates an incentive to achieve "mutual sympathy of sentiments" with them and leads people to develop habits, and then principles, of behaviour, which come to constitute one's conscience.

Some scholars have perceived a conflict between The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations; the former emphasises sympathy for others, while the latter focuses on the role of self-interest. In recent years, however, some scholars of Smith's work have argued that no contradiction exists. They claim that in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith develops a theory of psychology in which individuals seek the approval of the "impartial spectator" as a result of a natural desire to have outside observers sympathise with their sentiments. Rather than viewing The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations as presenting incompatible views of human nature, some Smith scholars regard the works as emphasising different aspects of human nature that vary depending on the situation. Otteson argues that both books are Newtonian in their methodology and deploy a similar "market model" for explaining the creation and development of large-scale human social orders, including morality, economics, as well as language. Ekelund and Hebert offer a differing view, observing that self-interest is present in both works and that "in the former, sympathy is the moral faculty that holds self-interest in check, whereas in the latter, competition is the economic faculty that restrains self-interest."