From 18th century Scotland, a compelling parable for our times

Empire of the Mind

In the second half of the 18th century, there emerged a philosopher of astonishing scope, who gave the world the image of itself that it had long been seeking. Adam Smith (1723-1790) sought to do for moral philosophy what Isaac Newton did for natural philosophy: to identify and represent those invisible, connecting principles that operate in social relations. It was this inquiry that laid the foundation for what is his best known work, commonly referred to as The Wealth of Nations, a book that most have heard of but few have read.

Adam Smith’s first great work, however, and one that is of enduring relevance to societies that seek to be liberal and free, and those that are plural and face the challenge of preserving that plurality, as we do in our own time, was The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). Through a deep exploration of sympathy, self-interest, and the impartial spectator, Smith offers a profound insight into the social and moral fabric of human society. First published in 1759, Smith argues in TMS that central to a successful liberal society and economy is security for all members of that society: “Society…cannot subsist among those who are at all times ready to hurt and injure one another.”

Smith believed that a system of justice must enforce principles of inter-personal behaviour based on the attribute of sympathy, or what we might describe in the present day as empathy. Smith goes on to give the best example of what the absence of empathy and justice does by contrasting the experience of British colonies in India and North America: “The difference between…the British constitution that…governs North America, and that of the mercantile company which oppresses and domineers in India, cannot be better illustrated than by the different states of those countries. Bengal had many resources, but people enjoyed no security…In contrast, citizens in British American colonies enjoyed the same system of justice as the British citizens did.”

The opening lines of the TMS lead you to a compelling parable for our times: “Howsoever selfish man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others…” In essence, Smith argues that the basis for a cohesive, constructive, liberal and free society, more important than institutional government is the ethical conduct of the citizenry. “What institution of government”, he asks, “could tend so much to promote the happiness of mankind as the general prevalence of wisdom and virtue? All government is but an imperfect remedy for the deficiency of these.”

As individuals, it is natural that we pursue self-interest. That is merely prudence. Yet, as social creatures, explains Smith, we are also bestowed with a natural sympathy towards others. When we see others distressed, we feel for them, just as others empathise with and feel for us. Over time, we each learn what is and is not acceptable to other people. Morality stems from our social nature, as does our sense of justice. The ideal must be that any impartial person -- what Smith calls an impartial spectator -- should fully empathise with our emotions and actions. Achieving this requires command over oneself, and in this is true virtue. The moral imperative for us today is to ensure that the genius of the Indian Constitution -- Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity -- is practiced in our everyday lives.

It is in engaging with one another and then putting ourselves in each other’s shoes to imagine how we would react then, that we develop our moral sense of proper behaviour and our sense of the difference between right and wrong.

Finally, Smith dwells on the tendency in society to admire the rich and the powerful, and to denigrate, or at least neglect, the poor and the disadvantaged. This disposition, he writes, is the great universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments. Indeed, wisdom and virtue are by no means the sole objects of respect; or vice and folly, of contempt. How often do we not see the respectful attention of the world directed towards the rich and the powerful, than towards the wise and the virtuous? We see frequently the vices and follies of the powerful much less despised than the poverty and weakness of the innocent.

The TMS is a difficult read, but well worth the effort. Two different roads present themselves in the human desire to be respectable and to be respected: the one, through wisdom and the practice of virtue; the other, by the acquisition of wealth and power. Two different characters are presented for emulation; the one, of proud ambition and ostentation; the other, of humility and equitable justice. What each of us chooses and why determines what kind of a society we become.