Compassion, Virtue And Justice

Adam Smith, a famous British moral philosopher and classical economist, has two masterpieces——The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations, which still have been playing an important role in theoretical guidance after more than two hundred years. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith's best work, had been revised 5 times before it was published. Mainly based on the "sympathy," relying on "impartial observer," the masterpiece introduces the theories of sympathy, virtue, justice. They are vital theories to the construction of moral society. So, this article focuses on the explanation of these three theories, and tries to explore the modern significance based on the explanation to provide some theoretical and constructive inspiration for our harmonious society.The theory of sympathy, the foundation of Smith's ideas and the main line of the book, is penetrated in each part of theoretical systems in The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith's theory of sympathy demonstrates how human being's sympathy performs and how human moral sentiments are formed under different situations, and provides the basis for his other two theories.The theory of virtue is based upon sympathy. It was added in the final edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, embodying his anxiety about the state of morals in Britain at that time and the efforts he made to change. He presented the idea of "four virtues" in the book, which a human being ought to pursue. "Four virtues" are the top social requirements for individuals in the society. One cannot be a person of integrity unless he has "four virtues."The theory of justice is based on the hypothesis of sympathy. Without justice, human society would not be stable and developed. Justice safeguards the basic interests of social members, and ensures no mutual impairment.Now, our country is at the stage of the socialist market economy transformation which urgently needs to strengthen the moral education and theoretical guidance, while The Theory of Moral Sentiments is an excellent book worthy of reference. This thesis concentrates on the sentiments, virtues and justice in harmonious society, and provides some relevant suggestions with the hope that they will contribute to the construction of harmonious society.The thesis also briefly discusses the relationship between the "invisible hand" in The Wealth of Nations and the "sympathy" in The Theory of Moral Sentiments. The author believes that "Smith's puzzle" is a pseuso-question or pseudo-proposition which results from people's misunderstanding rather than from Smith's theory itself.