SOCI 330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Group Cohesiveness, Escalator, Lazy Rich
3 Dec 2016
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First book: theory of moral sentiments written 16 years before the wealth of nations. A term invented after his death: the adam smith problem. The adam smith problem: the opening sentence of his book moral sentiments: it is in human nature to sympathize with other people. Somebodies leg is cut off; we feel the pain in our leg. Sympathy, empathy, this is not a moral recommendation, it is supposed to be a description of who we are and how we feel. It is a naturalistic account of human beings. Sympathy, in the wealth of nations, there is enormous emphasis placed upon self interest. It is not from love that we get bread from the baker, it is because everyone thinks about their self interest. Do the two book fit together (people thought that it does not). Prof says that the two book fit very well together. If the only thing in the world is self-interest, you don"t have a society.
