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Friday, April 29, 2011

Books The Other Adam Smith and the Royal Wedding

Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 10:01 AM

During the Reagan moment, some members of the GOP proudly wore ties that had an image of Adam Smith. Two reasons for this: one, they read some parts (certainly not all) of The Wealth of Nations; two, they did not read any part of his earlier book The Theory of Moral Sentiments. If they had done so, they would have known that the man on their ties wrote a chapter with this title:

Of the corruption of our moral sentiments, which is occasioned by this disposition to admire the rich and the great, and to despise or neglect persons of poor and mean condition

And if they had read that chapter, they would have been struck by its opening words:

This disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect persons of poor and mean condition, though necessary both to establish and to maintain the distinction of ranks and the order of society, is, at the same time, the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments. That wealth and greatness are often regarded with the respect and admiration which are due only to wisdom and virtue; and that the contempt, of which vice and folly are the only proper objects, is often most unjustly bestowed upon poverty and weakness, has been the complaint of moralists in all ages.

Enough said.

Comments (6) RSS

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Nothing's funner than cloaking in borrowed philosophy one's contempt for a mob of ordinaries trying to enjoy a spectacle for whatever it's worth.

Posted by gloomy gus on April 29, 2011 at 10:10 AM

Great. Now I'm gonna have to read The Wealth of Nations. I've been putting it off for decades.

Posted by TVDinner

on April 29, 2011 at 10:24 AM

@1 and you think this post by Charles on the Slog is going to affect their ability to enjoy it one whit? ;)

Posted by Beetlecat on April 29, 2011 at 10:52 AM

@3 n/m. reading comprehension malfunction. more coffee is on order.

Posted by Beetlecat on April 29, 2011 at 10:53 AM

Good book. Prefer his friend, as should anyone seriously considering study of the passions. Tension between articulating a problem to requisite specificity to answer, and the question one answers resembling the initial inquiry (never more obvious than in economics)...Neither Adam nor Davey had recourse to the tools of modern technology and science. Doesn't matter how smart you are, if the technology can't verify your hypothesis, you ain't gonna go far. Ethically, we're as Democritus was. One tested here. History of econ, definitely a great book...even though many if not most economists and students of economics haven't read it, and never will. I'm glad I was made to at a young age.

People often forget that Adam Smith was an ethicist. He found his answers, but I don't think it quite resembled the initial inquiry.

Posted by PugilistPuck on April 29, 2011 at 11:07 AM