" A Treatise of Human Nature "

Author: Adam Smith
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: The Theory of Moral Sentiments is Adam Smith's ethical work, first published in 1759, with a total of six editions published before his death. The book consists of seven volumes, primarily explaining the nature of moral sentiments and the nature of moral judgment. In this work, Smith inherited Hutcheson's theory of moral sentiment and Hume's theory of sympathy, forming his own theory of moral sentiment. He opposed theologians who used revelation to explain the origin of morality, instead basing his explanation on all sympathetic emotions that he believed to be inherent in human nature. Using the principle of sympathy, he explained the origins of human justice and all other moral sentiments, elucidating the nature of moral judgment and, on this foundation, demonstrating the characteristics of various fundamental virtues.