ABSTRACT
That canny Scot Adam Smith, friend as well as contemporary of the great and equally canny Scottish philosopher David Hume, discovered that it is not, as many seemed to imagine, love that makes the world go round – but money. Money is the hidden hand which governs all our actions, whether apparently altruistic – or selfish. Economists, who are philosophers of money, rather than anything
grander, love Smith. His account, however, of the role of money in moral decision-making has been overlooked by many philosophers. Instead, they have focused on the somewhat less original or innovative observations of Smith’s in his other heavyweight book, The Theory of the Moral Sentiments, wherein it is argued that ‘sympathy’ – we would say ‘empathy’ – is the root of social life. Somehow, his important statement of morality within a capitalist system has been overlooked. And it is really quite a simple message:
This is because self-interest is actually the basis of social cooperation. For example, trade. This is Smith’s special interest. As Smith says:
So, really is good, and self-interest the human for the bakers, the butchers and the makers (who want to do the right thing) is:
Should they want just enough to make an honest living – or aspire to be fabulously rich?
