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Adam Smith's Philosophy and Modern Moral Economics
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Adam Smith's Philosophy and Modern Moral Economics

A special issue of Philosophies (ISSN 2409-9287).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 March 2026 | Viewed by 3217

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Mark Rathbone

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Management Science, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2531, South Africa
Interests: Adam Smith; philosophy of economics; business ethics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Adam Smith’s intellectual contributions are often narrowly associated with his economic philosophy, as articulated in The Wealth of Nations (WN), while his earlier work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS), is frequently overlooked. This neglect can be attributed to either a lack of awareness or the perception that TMS is incompatible with WN, generally referred to as Das Adam Smith Problem. However, recent scholarly research has increasingly challenged this assumption, arguing that TMS is fundamental to understanding the moral foundations of Smith’s economic thought. Specifically, the roles of sympathy, the impartial spectator and justice provide essential insights into the framework within which Smith envisioned free market interactions. Further, this renewed scholarly attention has significant implications, particularly concerning Smith’s broader moral philosophy rooted in moral development as a function of sociability. Revisiting Smith’s moral philosophy thus enriches our understanding of his economic theory, demonstrating that his vision of market dynamics was not based on unregulated self-interest but rather on a system inherently shaped by ethical considerations. This perspective challenges the conventional dichotomy between his economic and moral thought, offering a more integrated view of his intellectual legacy. It also invites further reflection on how Smith’s insights might inform contemporary debates on business ethics, economic justice, ethical capitalism, and the moral dimensions of market behaviour, such as his relevance to contemporary moral economics, market dynamics, business practice, and societal structures.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following: ethical market economics, business ethics, economic inequalities, tensions with laissez-faire policies, economic growth, behavioural and institutional economics, developmental economics, and economic justice.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Mark Rathbone
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Philosophies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Adam Smith
  • moral economics
  • sympathy
  • self-interest
  • justice
  • happiness
  • ethics

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 272 KB  
Article
Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Development, Human Nature and Commerce
by Mark Rathbone
Philosophies 2026, 11(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies11010009 - 13 Jan 2026
Viewed by 293
Abstract
Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1776) offer a distinctive perspective on moral development that avoids succumbing to the limitations of capitalism and utilitarianism by supporting both moral agency and the importance of enabling structures and [...] Read more.
Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1776) offer a distinctive perspective on moral development that avoids succumbing to the limitations of capitalism and utilitarianism by supporting both moral agency and the importance of enabling structures and systems in commerce. Corruption of moral sentiments cannot be averted by enforcing only mechanical structures and systems of compliance with governance rules, regulations, and disciplinary processes to control employees. Compliance then follows a means-to-an-end logic for maximising profit, which becomes a barrier for autonomous moral development or is even incapable of moral decision-making, as suggested by Hannah Arendt. Smith’s originality lies in grounding this analysis with an affirmative view of human nature and liberty, which enables him to move beyond purely legalistic or moralistic approaches to understand and counter moral failure. Smith offers a distinctive perspective on moral development in commerce, integrating human cognition, moral philosophy, and enabling structural and systemic design that avoids the displacement of responsibility noted by Albert Bandura. For Smith, the corruption of moral sentiments is distorted by the natural need for praise from others at all costs, as opposed to praiseworthy conduct. His remedy is a two-fold process of moral education in which the impartial spectator extends the natural desire for praise to prioritise honour and integrity in behaviour that is praiseworthy. However, moral education also requires a structural social space that is not prescriptive or legalistic to enhance the freedom to develop morally by exercising the choice to strive towards ethical behaviour. In this manner, self-interest enables moral development through natural means that prioritise honourable conduct and perpetuates sympathetic sentiment in which the well-being of others is considered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adam Smith's Philosophy and Modern Moral Economics)
16 pages, 288 KB  
Article
The Meanings of (The Word) Trade: Adam Smith’s Political Economy as General Grammar
by Leonardo André Paes Müller
Philosophies 2025, 10(6), 125; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies10060125 - 13 Nov 2025
Viewed by 1022
Abstract
Some mid-eighteenth-century Political Economists, among them Adam Smith, employed the conceptual and methodological tools from General Grammar. Instead of offering, at the outset, a set of formal definitions of their concepts, they departed from ordinary language’s words (‘popular notions’, as Smith puts it) [...] Read more.
Some mid-eighteenth-century Political Economists, among them Adam Smith, employed the conceptual and methodological tools from General Grammar. Instead of offering, at the outset, a set of formal definitions of their concepts, they departed from ordinary language’s words (‘popular notions’, as Smith puts it) and endeavored to map all the different meanings of a particular notion. The goal of this paper is to follow Smith’s efforts as Grammarian by offering a mapping of the meanings of the word trade in the Wealth of Nations. According to Smith, trade has (1) a proper and original meaning as occupation or métier, that is, a specific productive activity or branch of labor; (2) a derived meaning as business, when it involves the employment of capital in pursuit of profit; and (3) an abstract meaning as commerce, especially when referring to a sector of economic activity, such as domestic or foreign trade. The article argues that key Mercantilist errors also stem from a grammatical confusion between these meanings, illustrating the critical aspect of Smith’s Political Economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adam Smith's Philosophy and Modern Moral Economics)
8 pages, 179 KB  
Article
Kenneth Boulding’s Extension of Adam Smith’s Ethical Framework
by Terence D. Agbeyegbe
Philosophies 2025, 10(6), 120; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies10060120 - 1 Nov 2025
Viewed by 786
Abstract
This paper examines the conceptual relationship between Adam Smith’s theory of moral sentiments and Kenneth Boulding’s integrative systems approach to economics. Rather than claiming a direct intellectual lineage, we argue that Boulding’s work addresses a specific limitation in Smith’s moral framework: Smith’s restriction [...] Read more.
This paper examines the conceptual relationship between Adam Smith’s theory of moral sentiments and Kenneth Boulding’s integrative systems approach to economics. Rather than claiming a direct intellectual lineage, we argue that Boulding’s work addresses a specific limitation in Smith’s moral framework: Smith’s restriction of justice to commutative duties (non-interference with persons, property, and promises) leaves the systematic organization of beneficent motivations underdeveloped, which modern economies require. Through a close analysis of Smith’s concept of beneficence in The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Boulding’s grants economy in The Economy of Love and Fear, we demonstrate that Boulding provides theoretical resources for understanding how moral motivations beyond reciprocal exchange can be systematically integrated into economic analysis. This comparison illuminates both the strengths and limitations of Smith’s naturalistic approach to moral economics. It suggests how contemporary business ethics might move beyond the stakeholder–shareholder debate toward a more comprehensive understanding of corporate moral agency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adam Smith's Philosophy and Modern Moral Economics)

Other

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16 pages, 198 KB  
Essay
Trading Places: Adam Smith’s Moral Commerce
by Paul Keen
Philosophies 2026, 11(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies11010017 - 5 Feb 2026
Abstract
If modern readers sometimes find Adam Smith’s laissez-faire market vision in Wealth of Nations difficult to reconcile with his emphasis on sympathy in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which Smith published in 1759 while serving as Chair of Moral Philosophy at the University [...] Read more.
If modern readers sometimes find Adam Smith’s laissez-faire market vision in Wealth of Nations difficult to reconcile with his emphasis on sympathy in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which Smith published in 1759 while serving as Chair of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, the fault may be ours. For many of Smith’s eighteenth-century contemporaries, the connections between the two books would have been obvious: they were distinct but converging aspects of an Enlightenment project to lay the ethical foundations of an urban middle-class discourse of polite sociability that reflected Britain’s status as a modern transactional society. This focus on the moral dimensions of eighteenth-century Britain’s experience of commercial modernity becomes especially clear when we read Smith in the philosophical context out of which his ideas emerged, including writers such as Joseph Addison, Francis Hutcheson, and David Hume. Closer attention to these earlier writers, especially Steele and Addison’s Spectator, offers a powerful reminder of the philosophical complexity of this project and a timely rejoinder to current efforts to sever economic policies from ethical imperatives in the name of an often brutal protectionism today. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adam Smith's Philosophy and Modern Moral Economics)
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