SMITH, Adam.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Theory of Moral Sentiments; Final lifetime edition of Adam Smith's first book, the first in two volumes, with his extensive additions and revisions, and including the first appearance of 145-page study of "the Character of Virtue".The Theory of Moral Sentiments, first published in 1759, "would be enough to assure the author a respected place among Scottish moral philosophers, and Smith himself ranked it above the Wealth of Nations. Its central idea is the concept, closely related to conscience, of the impartial spectator who helps man to distinguish right from wrong" (Niehans, p. 62). Including Smith's first use of the "invisible hand" concept, the Theory laid the intellectual foundations of the Wealth of Nations, and the two texts outline a coherent and unified system of economic and moral philosophy.

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