In 18th-century England, Adam Smith saw the human capacity for empathy as the key to moral sentiment, which leads to harmony between individuals and society. He explained that both selfish and altruistic behavior can be morally approved through the concept of an imaginary impartial observer. This plays an important role in maintaining social order and economic activity.
What are the hidden qualities inherent in human beings that ensure order and harmony in a society of free individuals? In 18th-century England, there were two schools of thought that approached this question: one that looked for the principles of social order in individual reason, and the other that focused on the innate moral feelings inherent in individuals. Adam Smith, who belonged to the latter school, saw the core of moral sentiment as the capacity for sympathy that all humans possess.
According to him, sympathy means that the observer achieves emotional unity with the actor through imaginary counterfactuals. An impartial observer who is not biased by his or her own interests imagines how he or she would feel and what he or she would do in the situation and circumstances faced by the actor. He or she compares this to the actual feelings and actions of the observed actor and agrees with them if they match. In this case, the observer approves of the actor’s feelings and actions as appropriate, and disapproves of them as inappropriate if they are different from what he or she imagined.
This principle of agreement also applies when an individual judges their own feelings and actions. An individual has a self as an actor governed by self-interested impulses and a self that reflects, taking the position of an imagined observer. This observer is another self that is disinterested and objectively judges the appropriateness of its feelings and actions, an abstract entity that Smith refers to as an “imaginary impartial observer” or “ideal man in the mind. One’s feelings and actions are approved as moral by the sympathy of this observer.
From this perspective, an actor’s actions can be selfish as well as altruistic, and still be approved as moral if they can get the impartial observer to agree with them. An impartial observer can approve of a selfish act as moral if they agree that they would have done the same thing if they were in the same situation as the actor. On the other hand, an altruistic act may not be approved as moral because it lacks propriety. For example, an impartial observer would not approve of an actor who engages in altruistic behavior for the benefit of others while neglecting to care for himself and his family.
He called the extension of altruistic behavior to the extent that it is acceptable to an impartial observer benevolence, and the restraint of selfish behavior to the extent that it is acceptable to an impartial observer justice. Because benevolence is an active benefit to others, it does not evoke feelings of retaliation when people do not perform it, because there are beneficiaries and no victims. However, if justice is not observed, it is easy to violate the life, body, property, honor, etc. of others, which will eventually lead to retaliatory feelings. Therefore, he believed that violations of justice should be strictly regulated.
In this regard, Smith emphasized the distinction between benevolence and justice in terms of social function and meaning, saying “Self-help is less important for the existence of society than justice.” Society can exist even without mutual affection among its members, but when justice is violated, chaos reaches its peak, and the existence of society itself becomes impossible. In other words, justice is the basis for the existence of society, and it is human moral feelings, or sympathy, that make this justice exist.
Adam Smith elaborates on these concepts in his book The Theory of Moral Sentiments. He argued that human moral emotions are not only important on an individual level, but also play a key role in maintaining harmony and order in society as a whole. In particular, he believed that the ability to understand and sympathize with the position of others through imagination is essential for creating and strengthening social bonds. Thus, sympathy serves as a fundamental binding force in human society, allowing individuals and societies to develop complementarily.
Smith also saw moral sentiments as playing a role in economic activity, and in The Wealth of Nations, he explained that free competition in the marketplace can be steered by actors pursuing individual interests to promote the social good through the eyes of an impartial observer. This, coupled with the concept of the invisible hand, supports his argument that the self-interested behavior of individuals can eventually lead to the prosperity of society as a whole. Thus, in Smith’s thought, economic freedom and moral responsibility form an interdependent relationship.
Smith’s insights are still relevant today. In the modern world, the importance of moral sentiment is increasingly emphasized, and it serves as an important criterion for addressing various social and economic issues. For example, concepts like corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethical consumption all reflect efforts by individuals and companies to evaluate and adjust their behavior in the eyes of an impartial observer. This illustrates how Smith’s principle of sympathy can be applied in the modern world.
In conclusion, Adam Smith believed that the moral emotions inherent in humans play an important role in maintaining order and harmony in society. His theory of sympathy explains the basis of individual moral judgment and social interaction, and it remains an important principle that can be applied across society and the economy. Smith’s ideas remain highly influential in modern society, suggesting that the importance of moral emotions has timeless value.
