Adam Smith, Session 1: Seeing Ourselves Anew
"The most sublime speculation of the contemplative philosopher can scarce compensate the neglect of the smallest active duty.”
Nobel laureate in literature, Mario Vargas Llosa wrote in his book The Call of the Tribe, "There is the mistaken idea that Adam Smith was first and foremost an economist—he is called the 'Father of Economics'—something that would have amazed him. He always thought of himself as a moralist and a philosopher."
The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Dennis Rasmussen observes, "is an inquiry into what Smith, borrowing from [Hume], calls 'the principles of morals.' Virtually the entire inquiry—the questions Smith takes up, the answers he gives, even the examples he uses—shows unmistakable signs of Hume's influence."
We don't need to categorize Smith as either an economist or a philosopher. Sound philosophy is the bedrock of good economics. Seventeen years separated Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments and his later The Wealth of Nations.
A person packing a case of books to take on a long spiritual retreat is unlikely to select The Theory of Moral Sentiments. So why are we studying Smith's moral philosophy? Ryan Patrick Hanely, a philosophy professor, provides an answer to our question. He says,
Smith understood as well as any the unique constraints, limitations and freedoms possible in a modern commercial order. He understood the ways in which those incentives; the ways in which in trying to better our condition were often led to pursue wealth, fame, recognition. He understands both why those were good. He understood why they were challenging. And he also understood why they were beneficial for the modern economy. After all, it's this desire to pursue our self-interest; to better our conditions that's the engine of economic growth. So, as an economist, Smith understands this very well. As a philosopher of living, one of the things that makes him so unique is that he writes a philosophy of living well that is very much suited for that world with all its opportunities and all its challenges.
Our individual flourishing is interconnected with societal flourishing. Human flourishing depends on our ability to cooperate. For society to thrive, we need both sides of Adam Smith's insights.
In his book Our Great Purpose: Adam Smith on Living a Better Life, Hanely observes, "Smith’s belief that living a good life requires bringing together action and reflection not only is central to his philosophy of living, but also distinguishes his project from other sorts of efforts in this vein.”
Hanley adds, “Smith, to put it bluntly, knew that there is all the difference in the world between learning how to get ahead in life and learning how to live life well.”
The ideas in The Theory of Moral Sentiments are consistent with the other books we have studied. It's a way of being—not a bunch of techniques—that we're learning. And although Smith presents intellectual ideas, we are using those ideas to upgrade our conditioned programming. We are not expecting to rely on reasoning to deploy Smith’s ideas when we face challenging situations.
Any rancher will tell you it is best not to let the horse escape from the barn. By now we have learned that when we let our mind run wild, we, like the rancher, will not like the results. Smith writes, “The most sublime speculation of the contemplative philosopher can scarce compensate the neglect of the smallest active duty.” So again, Mindset Shifts U is about theory (the lab) and practice (the field).
