Das Adam Smith Problem: Its Origins, the Stages of the Current Debate, and One Implication for Our Understanding of Sympathy

Abstract

Scholars have long been interested in the apparent dichotomy between sympathy and self-interest in Smith. The question of the consistency betweenThe Theory of Moral Sentiments(TMS) andAn Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations(WN)—the famousDas Adam Smith Problem—is definitely still relevant for anyone attracted to Smith scholarship. Although there is some agreement that the two works are consistent and, furthermore, parts of an incomplete system, it seems that theProblemcontinues to attract interest, not only for its historical and philosophical appeal, but also perhaps for its implications for the current economics-and-ethics debate.