Adam Smith and the circles of sympathy

Sympathy with Adam Smith and reflexions on self

AdamSmith’s account of themoral sentiments resonateswithmodern themes in evolutionary biology. His distinction between our reasons and the reasons for these reasons recalls the evolutionary biologist’s emphasis on different levels of causal explanation. In this view, the proximate goals of our psychologicalmotivations are different in kind from the ultimate reasons why we have evolved these mot...

Religion and Spirituality: Adam Smith versus J-J Rousseau

Adam Smith and J-J Rousseau share some common ground when it comes to religion, namely that they were born into  and educated in cultural contexts deeply shaped by Reformed Christianity. However, close consideration of their writings on religion reveal marked difference. This paper explores those differences and finds that Rousseau and Smith are radically at odds on this score. Smith has almost...

Adam Smith and Greed

Adam Smith , Behavioral

Adam Smith , Behavioral Economist