The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith's first and in his own mind most important work, outlines his view of proper conduct and the institutions and sentiments that make men virtuous. Here he develops his doctrine of the impartial spectator, whose hypothetical disinterested judgment we must use to distinguish right from wrong in any given situation. We by nature pursue our self-interest, according to Smith. This makes independence or self-command an instinctive good and neutral rules as difficult to craft as they are necessary. But society is not held together merely by neutral rules; it is held together by sympathy. Smith argues that we naturally share the emotions and to a certain extent the physical sensations we witness in others. Sharing the sensations of our fellows, we seek to maximize their pleasures and minimize their pains so that we may share in their joys and enjoy their expressions of affection and approval.

The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, vol.1)

Business & Money

Adam, Smith

Economics

Liberty Classics

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1704 edition. Excerpt: ...we have many approve examples, and occafional particular commands to the contrary....-. 1. To the firft: The point of Paternity being explain'd; the duty of Children to Parents prov'd to proceed from the benefits receiv'd from them, and that the power over them, which at the firft feems to have bin left at large, becaufe it was thought they would never abufe it, has long fince bin much reftrain'd in all civiliz'd Nations, and particularly in our own; We may conclude that men are all made of the fame pafte, and that one ows no more to another than another to him, unlefs for fome benefit receiv'd, or by virtue of fome promife made. The duty arifing from a benefit receiv'd muft be proportionable to it: that which grows from a promife is determin'd by the promife or contract made, according to the true fehfe and meaning of it. He therefore that would know what the BalyIonians, Hebrews, Athenians, or Romans did owe to Nimrod, Saul, Thefeus.or Romulus, muft inquire what benefits were receiv'd from them, or what waspromis'd to them. It cannot be faid that any thing was due to them for the fake of their Parents; they could have no prerogative by birth: Nimrod was the fixth Son of Chujh the Son of Cham, who was the youngeft Son of Noah his Kingdom was ere&amp;ed whilft Noah and his elder Sons Shem and Japhet, as well as Cham, Chujh and his elder Sons were'ftill living. Saul was the Son of Chifo, a man of Benjamin, who Was the youngeft Son of Jacob; and he was chofen in the moft DemocraxicaTway by Lot amongft the whole People. Thtfeus according to the cuftomof the times pretended to be the Son of Neptune-, andft/xttwas fo Well pleas'd with the Soldier that had gotten her with child, that he refolv'd to think or fay that Mars was the Fatherof...

Discourses Concerning Government

Politics & Social Sciences

Sidney, Algernon

Politics & Government

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1704 Excerpt: ...we have many approve examples, and occafional particular commands to the contrary..«..-. 1. To the firft: The point of Paternity being explain'd; the duty of Children to Parents prov'd to proceed from the benefits receiv'd from them, and that the power over them, which at the firft feems to have bin left at large, becaufe it was thought they would never abufe it, has long fince bin much reftrain'd in all civiliz'd Nations, and particularly in our own; We may conclude that men are all made of the fame pafte, and that one ows no more to another than another to him, unlefs for fome benefit receiv'd, or by virtue of fome promife made. The duty arifing from a benefit receiv'd muft be proportionable to it: that which grows from a promife is determin'd by the promife or contract made, according to the true fehfe and meaning of it. He therefore that would know what the BalyIonians, Hebrews, Athenians, or Romans did owe to Nimrod, Saul, Thefeus.or Romulus, muft inquire what benefits were receiv'd from them, or what waspromis'd to them. It cannot be faid that any thing was due to them for the fake of their Parents; they could have no prerogative by birth: Nimrod was the fixth Son of Chujh the Son of Cham, who was the youngeft Son of Noah his Kingdom was ere&ed whilft Noah and his elder Sons Shem and Japhet, as well as Cham, Chujh and his elder Sons were'ftill living. Saul was the Son of Chifo, a man of Benjamin, who Was the youngeft Son of Jacob; and he was chofen in the moft DemocraxicaTway by Lot amongft the whole People. Thtfeus according to the cuftomof the times pretended to be the Son of Neptune-, andft/xttwas fo Well pleas'd with the Soldier that had gotten her with child, that he refolv'd to think or fay that Mars was the Fatherof the Children, that ...

The theory of moral sentiments

Smith. Adam.

Philosophy

The 250th-anniversary edition of the influential treatise on social responsibility that has shaped leaders from Bill Gates to Barack Obama 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 judgment, and virtue that have taken on renewed importance in business and politics.

This book must rank as the most devastating analysis of socialism yet penned. . . . An economic classic in our time.
—Henry Hazlitt
More than thirty years ago F. A. Hayek said of Socialism: "It was a work on political economy in the tradition of the great moral philosophers, a Montesquieu or Adam Smith, containing both acute knowledge and profound wisdom. . . . To none of us young men who read the book when it appeared was the world ever the same again."
This is a newly annotated edition of the classic first published in German in 1922. It is the definitive refutation of nearly every type of socialism ever devised. Mises presents a wide-ranging analysis of society, comparing the results of socialist planning with those of free-market capitalism in all areas of life.
Friedrich Hayek's foreword comments on the continuing relevance of this great work: "Most readers today will find that Socialism has more immediate application to contemporary events than it had when it first appeared." Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) was the leading spokesman of the Austrian School of Economics throughout most of the twentieth century. He earned his doctorate in law and economics from the University of Vienna in 1906. In 1926, Mises founded the Austrian Institute for Business Cycle Research. From 1909 to 1934, he was an economist for the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. Before the Anschluss, in 1934 Mises left for Geneva, where he was a professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies until 1940, when he emigrated to New York City. From 1948 to 1969, he was a visiting professor at New York University.

Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis

Ludwig Von Mises

Spencer provides us with an intellectual adventure rarely matched, especially in our own epoch. —From the Introduction Though almost forgotten today, Herbert Spencer ranks as one of the foremost individualist philosophers. His influence in the latter half of the nineteenth century was immense. Spencer's name is usually linked with Darwin's, for it was he who penned the phrase, "survival of the fittest." Today in America he is most often admired for his trenchant essays in The Man Versus the State. But Spencer himself considered The Principles of Ethics to be his finest work. In the second volume, under "Justice," is his final statement on the role of the state. His formula for justice is summed up in these words: "Every man is free to do that which he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man."

Principles of Ethics, Vol. II (of two)

Herbert, Spencer

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Books by Liberty Classics

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The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, vol.1)

Discourses Concerning Government

Discourses Concerning Government

The theory of moral sentiments

The theory of moral sentiments

Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis

Principles of Ethics, Vol. II (of two)