Adam Smith

The Theory of Moral Sentiments of Adam Smith. In 1759 Smith published his first work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith saw humans as creatures driven by passions and at the same time self-regulated by their ability to reason and—no less important—by their capacity for sympathy.

Smith presents the argument that approval or disapproval of the feelings of others is completely determined by whether we sympathize or fail to sympathize with their emotions….The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

Haidt’s empirical claim is that moral judgments are for the most part intuitions proximally caused by gut reactions, quick and automatic flashes of affect.

The average reader will spend 9 hours and 33 minutes reading this book at 250 WPM (words per minute). In his first major work, economist Adam Smith concentrates on ethics and charity.

One’s sentiments are the contents of one’s sensed, or felt, experience—in contrast to the contents of simply one’s thoughts. Both disgust and resentment, however, are moral sentiments in the sense that people commonly experience these affective reactions in response to moral phenomena. …

1a : an attitude, thought, or judgment prompted by feeling : predilection. b : a specific view or notion : opinion. 2a : emotion. b : refined feeling : delicate sensibility especially as expressed in a work of art.

Shame and guilt are not equally “moral” emotions. One of the consistent themes emerging from empirical research is that shame and guilt are not equally “moral” emotions. On balance, guilt appears to be the more adaptive emotion, benefiting individuals and their relationships in a variety of ways (Baumeister et al.

Guilt is, first and foremost, an emotion. You may think of guilt as a good way to get someone to do something for you out of a sense of obligation, but it’s more accurate to think of guilt as an internal state. In the overall scheme of emotions, guilt is in the general category of negative feeling states.

Definition. To act according to ones moral values and standards. Children demonstrate prosocial and moral behavior when they share, help, co-operate, communicate, sympathize or in otherwise they demonstrate ability to care about others.

An organization that is perceived to act ethically by employees can realize positive benefits and improved business outcomes. The perception of ethical behavior can increase employee performance, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, trust and organizational citizenship behaviors.

Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, tolerance, love, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues. Virtue ethics asks of any action, “What kind of person will I become if I do this?” or “Is this action consistent with my acting at my best?”