Adam Smith
We judge right and wrong by putting ourselves in others' place, under the eye of an "impartial spectator".
Life
Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher and professor of moral philosophy at Glasgow. In The Theory of Moral Sentiments he explains our moral judgments through sympathy and the eye of an "impartial spectator"; in The Wealth of Nations he analyses the division of labour and the market. He thus links morality, self-interest and social life.
Main works
Our moral judgments arise from sympathy and from imagining an impartial spectator.
Studies how the division of labour and exchange create the wealth of a nation.
In his own words
« How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it. »
« It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. »
« By pursuing his own interest, he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. »
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceMoral judgement comes from sympathy: we approve what an impartial spectator would approve, rather than from a rule or from consequences.
Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)
However selfish man may be supposed, some principles of his nature make him care about the fortune of others.
Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), I.i.1
He defends a 'system of natural liberty' in which individuals pursue their interests under justice, with a limited role for the state.
Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776), IV.ix