Introduction*

Adam Smith’s inquiries into the nature of society and into human nature are remarkable for their sensitivity to the perspective of ‘the individual in society’. Rather than treat the individual and the community separately, Smith focuses on the reciprocal and mutually-formative aspects of their relationship. Such a perspective may prompt us to reconsider the proper relationship of the self and society. Perhaps we should expect nothing less from one who three times recalls us to the seemingly paradoxical claim that individual excellence lies in recognizing that we are each ‘but one of the multitude in no respect better than any other in it’ Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) (II.ii.2.1, III.3.4, VI.ii.2.2).