Does Friendship Stem from Altruism? Adam Smith and the Distinction between Love-based and Interest-based Preferences

Forthcoming in "Journal of the history of economic thought" in 2003 or 2004 Abstract: Friendship-and-love expresses musings about wellbeing—while “wellbeing” is the economist’s substantive satisfaction. Insofar as altruism is about wellbeing, it must differ from friendship-and-love. However, what is the basis of the difference between substantive satisfaction and friendship-and-love? The answer can be found in Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments, chapter 2: how “mutual sympathy” differs from “sympathy.” Smith scholars generally miss the uniqueness of “mutual sympathy” and, indeed, fold it under Smith’s “sympathy” (and “empathy”)—with one exception. Robert Sugden highlights the uniqueness of mutual sympathy. However, he goes to the other end, i.e., folds it under Smith’s sympathy-and-empathy”. This paper aims to avoid the folding in either direction. While mutual sympathy originates love-based sociality (friendship-and-love), sympathy-and-empathy originates interest-based sociality (wellbeing that includes altruism). This paper concludes that friendship is neither reducible to altruism nor vice versa. Further, this paper distinguishes this problem from the question regarding the socialization of the individual.

Addison’s Modesty, or the Essayist as Spectator

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.

Resume Ekonomi Kapitalisme

Berbicara mengenai ekonomi kapitalisme, Smith merpuakan salah satu pelopor dari sistem ini. Sistem ekonomi kapitalisme mulai muncul dan berkembang pada abad ke-18 di Eropa Barat dan mulai lebih terkenal pada abad ke-19. Adam Smit sendiri lahir di Skotlandia pada tahun 1723 dan beberapa karyanya yang terkenal ialah The Wealth of Nations, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) dan Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue and Arms (1763).Di dunia sendiri sistem ekonomi didominasi oleh dua sistem ekonomi yakni, sistem ekonomi kapitalis dan sistem ekonomi kapitalis. Sistem ekonomi kapitalis berpatok pada kepemilikan pribadi dan swasta terhadap alat-alat produksi, kegiatan distribusi, maupun pertukaran. Karenanya ketiga hal tersebut dikuasai oleh pihak swasta. Sistem ekonomi lebih mendominasi negara-negara didunia. Dimana, produksi dan perdagangannya didominasi oleh kepemilikan yang bersifat individualistis atau pribadi.

Was Adam Smith an evolutionary economist?: Smith’s study of botany and Charles Darwin’s theory of morality

This paper aims to extend and provide a new understanding of Adam Smith’s thoughts by focusing on some revisions in the 4th edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Smith 1774), “the nutritional value theory of corn” in the Wealth of Nations, and then comparing Smith’s discourses on the formation of morality with C. Darwin’s. Smith’s understanding of human nature extended and deepened with the study of botany and other sciences at Kirkcaldy after spending 2 years in France as Duke Buccleugh’s tutor. He began to understand human nature not only as a composite of self-love and benevolence, but also of instinctual and experiential knowledge. Thus, Smith’s system transitioned to an evolutionary one, and he became an unconscious forerunner of the Darwinian theory of morality formation.

Sistem Ekonomi Laissez Faire Adam Smith

Kapitalisme ialah sebuah teknik memperoleh kekayaan melalui penghimpunan yang kemudian di investasikan kembali guna memperoleh keuntungan, produksi dan distribusi. Kapitalisme merupakan sebuah proses yang di susun sedemikian rupa agar dapat mengembangkan profit melalui berbagai arah baik dalam skala nasional maupun internasional. Kapitalisme adalah sistem ekonomi yang menjunjung tinggi hak individu dan menjadikan kepentingan masyarakat umum dikebelakangkan. Dalam sistem kapitalisme terkandung pokok-pokok yang mendominasi motivasi kerja melalui perolehan, persaingan dan rasionalitas. Pemikiran ekonomi kapitalisme ini erat hubungannya dengan teori Adam Smith mengenai Invisible Hand, dalam bukunya An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nation. Dalam bukunya inilah Adam Smith pertama kali merumuskan pemikiran mengenai ekonomi kapitalis. Adam Smith mendasarkan sistem ini terhadap sistem kebebasan alami, dimana setiap individu diberi kebebasan untuk mengejar kepentingannya masing-masing. Adam Smith merupakan pemikir mazhab klasik, dia dilahirkan di Skotlandia pada 1723. Karyanya selain The Wealth of Nation juga antara lain The Theory of Moral Sentiments pada tahun 1759 dan pada 1763 dai juga mengeluarkan karya yaitu Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue and Arms.

THE PLEASURE OF EXCHANGE: ADAM SMITH’S THIRD KIND OF SELF-LOVE

This article argues that the self-love that motivates exchange in The Wealth of Nations (WN) can be seen as the desire for deserved approval discussed by Adam Smith in The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). This often overlooked desire appears in TMS as the most representative kind of self-love. Exchange motivated by this desire emerges as the way to find confirmation through others’ appraisal of one’s own self-assessment, and thus to find an agreed-upon measure for respective deserved praise. The target in this economic relationship is that equivalence that signals mutual recognition of deserved esteem. Equivalence here is the aim and not the result of exchange, unlike a tug-of-war, where both parties try to give as little and gain as much as possible regardless of the recognition each deserves.

Dignidade humana em Adam Smith: a conciliação entre liberalismo e moral

A visão mainstream do século XX sugere que o filósofo e economista escocês Adam Smith fez uma defesa de teoria liberal pautada exclusivamente no individualismo tout court e no puro cálculo racional da economia. Sob essa ótica, liberalismo e ética sentimentalista seriam elementos totalmente dissociados e independentes no pensamento smithiano. Entretanto, consideramos que esta é uma interpretação enviesada que desconsidera a leitura conjunta de suas obras centrais The theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) e Wealth of Nations (1776), o que inviabiliza uma compreensão global do seu pensamento. Contra essa visão dominante, propomos, como objetivo central do presente artigo, a conciliação entre liberalismo clássico smithiano e sua ética sentimentalista, a partir da noção de dignidade humana presente no reconhecimento do outro como um igual. Se esta hipótese estiver correta, defenderemos a tese de um liberalismo simpático no sistema filosófico de Adam Smith. Para isso, inicialmente, analisaremos o sentimento de simpatia smithiano e sua interferência nas relações interpessoais e, em seguida, o dispositivo de justificação moral da imparcialidade enquanto promotora de comportamentos justos. Por fim, sustentaremos que o entrelaçamento desses dois elementos da ética sentimentalista smithiana, no espaço público, engendra uma noção de dignidade humana compatível com o seu liberalismo, na medida em que respeita as liberdades individuais ao mesmo tempo em que propicia o progresso das sociedades comerciais. Para isso, utilizaremos como fios condutores dessa pesquisa, a obra de Adam Smith Theory of Moral Sentiments e a análise interpretativa do filósofo norte-americano Stephen Darwall no artigo Sympathetic Liberalism: Recent Work on Adam Smith .