 The philosophical foundations of authority in Adam Smith: wealth, admiration, and systemsLes fondements philosophiques de l'autorité chez Adam Smith: richesse, admiration et systèmesThiago Vargas ()
Post-Print from HAL Abstract: This article explores the philosophical foundations of Adam Smith's concept of authority, focusing on its connections to ‘admiration' and the ‘love of systems'. Its primary objective is to analyse how Smith integrates moral, epistemological, and aesthetic principles into his political philosophy to explain the subordination conferred by wealth, which he identifies as the most effective form of authority. Drawing on the Wealth of Nations, Lectures on Jurisprudence, and Theory of Moral Sentiments, the article argues that Smith sees authority as rooted in human tendencies to admire systems that harmonize and explain phenomena while evoking beauty and coherence. Furthermore, this admiration includes social and political arrangements. As a result, political systems that ‘promote happiness' are admired for their practical benefits and their ability to evoke a sense of beauty: like finely crafted machines, they inspire admiration through their elegance and order. Keywords: Authority; admiration; system; Adam Smith; politics (search for similar items in EconPapers) Published in History of European Ideas, 2024, pp.1-20. ⟨10.1080/01916599.2024.2430948⟩ There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04841168 DOI: 10.1080/01916599.2024.2430948 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Post-Print from HAL |
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