Spontaneous Order: A Unifying Point Between Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations
Abstract
The aim of this work will be to understand the scope of the concept of spontaneous order, as the basis of the origin of morality and the market in Adam Smith's thought. Our thesis is summarized in stating that the idea of spontaneous order seems to establish a possible union between the two works, offering itself as the foundation of the origin of morality and the market. We will divide this work into four parts: the first two focus on making an outline of the two profiles that Smith managed to define in his works, the economic man and the moral man. In the third, we argue that in the Scottish author both moral and economic activity are explained in terms of their origin and development, through the idea of spontaneous order, although he did not use that word precisely to refer to it. We will end in the fourth part with brief conclusions.References
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