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Beyond Self-Interest and Altruism: A Reconstruction of Adam Smith's Theory of Human Conduct

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2008

Elias L. Khalil
Elias L. Khalil
Affiliation:
Ohio State University, Mansfield
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Extract

I attempt a reconstruction of Adam Smith's view of human nature as explicated in The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). Smith's view of human conduct is neither functionalist nor reductionist, but interactionist. The moral autonomy of the individual, conscience, is neither made a function of public approval nor reduced to self-contained impulses of altruism and egoism. Smith does not see human conduct as a blend of independently defined impulses. Rather, conduct is unified, by the underpinning sentiment of sympathy.

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Essays
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Economics & Philosophy , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , October 1990 , pp. 255 - 273
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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References

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