The notion of prudence in the Theory of Moral Sentiments of Adam Smith

Christophe Charlier

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Abstract: Prudence analysed by Smith in the Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) as the sentiment including ethics and selfishness should be an object of particular attention for scholars interested in the 'Smith problem', and more generally, for those interested in the introduction of ethics in economic analysis. In this article, we try to explain, first, why prudence can be detached from private interest strictly speaking, by demonstrating that it results from the main steps taken by Smith in TMS. Prudence will be shown to render compelling the taking into consideration of others in the individual's decision process. We analysed, then, the part played by this concept in TMS. Far from being a curio, prudence will be underlined as a key element in Smithian analysis when considering the possibility of a moral social order, when elaborating social rules and establishing the status of a norm for such moral rules

Keywords: Prudence; Theory of Moral Sentiments; Smith; impartial spectator; sympathy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996
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Published in History of Economic Ideas, 1996, IV (1-2), pp.271-297

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00423879

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