Smith on happiness: towards a gravitational theory

Abstract

Some commentators have tried to link Smith's analysis with fundamental results in economics of happiness. These contributions mainly focus on the influence of wealth on happiness (Ashraf et al. 2005; Bruni 2006; Brewer 2009). However, this connection is far from covering Smith's considerations about individual happiness and their possible similarities with today's analysis in economics of happiness. In the Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith argues that adverse events depress people's mind much more below their “ordinary state of happiness” than prosperous ones. However, close to what we call, today, “hedonic adaptations theories”, he views adverse and prosperous events as only short term shocks, so that an individual's level of happiness tends towards the one of his “ordinary state of happiness”, just as short term market prices tend towards long term natural prices. This paper aims at throwing light on the foundations of Smith's “gravitational” theory of happiness, on its consequences on an individual's preferences, and also on its implication with regard to the possibility of long-term variations of happiness. The first step leads to establish a link between the nowadays familiar idea that individuals adapt to circumstances and Smith's analysis of individual happiness. The second step puts to the fore the role that Smith grants to the sympathy with the impartial spectator in the way back to the “ordinary state of happiness” after deviations produced by prosperous or adverse events. At last, we focus on the decisional consequences that Smith draws from his gravitational theory of happiness, chiefly those which deal with the choice between various permanent situations (for instance, poverty and riches) and their evaluation.