Addison’s Modesty, or the Essayist as Spectator

2021 ◽  
pp. 164-181
Author(s):  
Fred Parker
Keyword(s):  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Impartial Spectator ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Scene ◽  
The Spectator ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments

The disengaged position of Mr Spectator, who observes life without participating in it, is related to Addison’s interest in an inexpressive reticence or modesty in language and in manners. How can this valorization of reserve be reconciled with The Spectator’s saturation in the social scene, a scene which is everywhere held up as open to appraisal? Comparison with Adam Smith’s ‘impartial spectator’ in The Theory of Moral Sentiments reveals Addison’s greater emphasis on the function of the imagination, such that the spectatorial viewpoint is often felt as an imagined viewpoint, a place to visit rather than to reside. This chimes with Addison’s way of endorsing Locke as a thinker who emphasizes the role of the mind’s suppositions and projections in the construction of experience. Genial recognition of the provisionality of what is imagined is key to Addison’s celebrated humour (especially in the Roger de Coverley papers), while the sense of an elusive imaginative agency gives the apparent spontaneity of his ‘easy’ style its subtle irony and its power to delight.

Sentimental Conviction: Rousseau’s Apologia and the Impartial Spectator

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Schoene
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Impartial Spectator ◽  
Direct Discourse ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
The Spectator ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments

Where Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) extends the domain of spectatorship beyond the ocular realm and claims that we must become the impartial spectators of our own character and conduct, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Rousseau juge de Jean-Jacques, Dialogues (1776) also attempts to probe beyond the visual surface to examine through careful study the constitution of another, who is actually himself. This chapter traces a Smithian sentiment in the radical division of the self dramatized in Rousseau’s fictional autobiographical Dialogues, emphasizing Rousseau’s attempt to liberate his own gaze and render an unbiased judgment upon himself. Although Rousseau does not write in direct discourse with Smith, he applies a strikingly similar rhetorical device to the spectator within the dialogic structure of his apologia. Reading Rousseau alongside Smith resituates the Dialogues not as a work of madness, as it has frequently been interpreted, but rather as an unrelenting struggle for justice.

scholarly journals What’s the problem, Mr. Smith? Shedding more light (than Heat) on Adam Smith’s view of man *

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Emmanoel de Oliveira Boff
Keyword(s):  
Adam Smith ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Impartial Spectator ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Wealth Of Nations ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments

Abstract Why has the “Adam Smith Problem” recently been discussed in the literature? Although most historians of economic thought regard the problem solved, these discussions cast doubt on this apparent solution. This article suggests that the “Adam Smith Problem” may originate from the concept of the human being developed by Smith in the “Theory of Moral Sentiments”: in this book, human beings can be understood as composed of an empirical and a (quasi) transcendental side, in the form of the impartial spectator. It is argued that it is the tension between these two parts which creates supposed inconsistencies between aspects of the “Theory of Moral Sentiments” and the “Wealth of Nations” like, for example, the role of sympathy and self-interest in each of these books.

scholarly journals Self-Censorship and Associational Life in the Liberal Academy

Society ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 538-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Chamlee-Wright
Keyword(s):  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Intellectual Tradition ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Impartial Spectator ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Associational Life ◽  
Speak Up ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments

AbstractSelf-censorship is a well-documented phenomenon within the academy. Building from the works of Tocqueville, Mill, and Smith, this paper identifies sources of self-censorship within the academy, namely the values of intellectual abrasion and civility, that are associated with the liberal intellectual tradition. The resulting phenomenon of self-censorship, I argue, has both positive and negative effects on the quality of public and academic discourse. Given the dual nature of self-censorship, scholars seeking to make the morally upright choice of whether to self-censor or to speak up face both an epistemological and a moral challenge. I argue that in discussions of the “impartial spectator” and the virtue of self-command, Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments anticipates these challenges and lends guidance to the scholar who is sincerely committed to doing what is right when navigating associational life within the academy.

Sympathy, Beauty, and Sentiment: Adam Smith's Aesthetic Morality

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Fudge
Keyword(s):  
Moral Theory ◽  
Moral Relativism ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Impartial Spectator ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments ◽  
Aesthetic Judgments

One of the more striking aspects of Adam Smith's moral theory is the degree to which it depends on and appeals to aesthetic norms. By considering what Smith says about judgments of propriety – the foundational type of judgment in his system – and by tying what he says in The Theory of Moral Sentiments to certain of his other writings, I argue that Smith ultimately defends an aesthetic morality. Among the challenges that any aesthetic morality faces is that it seems to entail moral relativism. This problem is magnified by Smith's reliance on the judgments of the impartial spectator, which also seems to make his theory more vulnerable to a Euthyphro-type objection. I suggest that Smith can potentially get around these problems, given his presumption of aesthetic naturalism. While there is certainly some variation in our aesthetic judgments, Smith claims that we naturally find certain actions and sentiments odious, while others we find agreeable. The reason, he argues, is that any society that judged otherwise would not survive.

scholarly journals Business Ethics in Adam Smith’s works

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Stefan Zabieglik
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
The Social ◽  
Property Owners ◽  
Wealth Of Nations ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments

This paper presents some views of Adam Smith based on some selected problems of business ethics. These can be found in his famous works—The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations—and in his lectures at the Glasgow University, where he was a professor of moral philosophy in 1752–1764. The main argument of the paper is that ethical problems (presented mainly in The Theory of Moral Sentiments) are also present in his political economy, which contradicts some neoliberal interpretations of his works as ones of the “intellectual father of capitalism”. In The Wealth of Nations, Smith criticizes each social class because of the fact that its interests are incompatible with the good of the whole society. He condemned the monopolist efforts of the traders and entrepreneurs, described some property owners as “vain egoists” and advanced the interests of the poor. He maintained that the interests of the traders should be supported when these were compatible with the interest of the consumers. The desire for possession and wealth should be analyzed from the social point of view: It is good when it contributes to the common good and the reproduction of humankind.

THE RELEVANCE OF PROPRIETY AND SELF-COMMAND IN ADAM SMITH’S THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-137
Author(s):  
Leonidas Montes
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Personal Liberty ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments

AbstractPropriety and self-command are distinctive and complex Smithian concepts. This essay attempts to shed more light on the meaning and significance of propriety and the virtue of self-command. After a brief introduction on the recent reappraisal of The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS), a short analysis of Smith’s crucial idea of sympathy follows. Then the relevance of propriety is discussed and some connections between propriety and the virtue of self-command are explored. Finally, the importance of Smith’s self-command is reassessed, paying attention to its origins and philosophical implications. It is noteworthy that, through self-command and propriety, TMS stresses the role of intentions and motivations. By doing so, Adam Smith opens up new threads to rethink personal liberty and its ethical importance for political economy.

Preferences And Voting Behavior: Smith's Impartial Spectator Revisited

1987 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Saraydar
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Impartial Spectator ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments

Why do people expend resources to vote in large-number situations where the probability of their affecting the outcome is close to zero? In a recent article, Geoffrey Brennan and Loren Lomasky (1985, p. 198) argue provocatively that Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) not only predicts such behavior, but further predicts that people “frequently” vote for outcomes that cost them more than they would individually be willing to pay. In other words, in the relevant environment, they claim that individuals will systematically express false preferences for costly outcomes they “really” do not want. I submit that a fair reading of TMS in fact provides no basis for their view; if anything, TMS suggests the opposite.

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