Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

The Theory of Moral Sentiments [2nd ed.]

London and Edinburgh

Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh

1761

"Such persons are not accustomed to consult the judge within concerning the opinion which they ought to form of their own conduct."

On the contrary, if the man within condemns us, the loudest acclamations of mankind appear but as the noise of ignorance and folly, and whenever we assume the character of this impartial judge, we cannot avoid viewing our actions with his distaste and dissatisfaction. The weak, the vain, and the frivolous, indeed, may be mortified by the most groundless censure, or elated by the most absurd applause. Such persons are not accustomed to consult the judge within concerning the opinion which they ought to form of their own conduct. This inmate of the breast, this abstract man, the representative of mankind, and substitute of the Deity, whom nature has constituted the supreme judge of all their actions is seldom appealed to by them. They are contented with the decision of the inferiour tribunal. The approbation of their companions, of the particular persons whom they have lived and conversed with, has generally been the ultimate object of all their wishes. If they obtain this, their joy is compleat; and if they fail, they are entirely disappointed. [...]
(pp. 208-9; cf. 130 in Liberty Fund ed.)

Government::Judge::Judge Within Population

Reading

9 entries in the ESTC (1761, 1764, 1767, 1774, 1777, 1781, 1790, 1792, 1793, 1797).

Text from The Theory of Moral Sentiments. By Adam Smith, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh, 1761). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>

Reading Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, ed. D.D. Raphael and A.L. Macfie (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1984).

06/19/2014