Study On Adam Smith’s Virtue Thought

As the Britain has prosperously developed its capitalism and been the leader ofthe whole economic field around the world at the end of18thcentury and thebeginning of19thcentury, simultaneously, Adam Smith’s theoretical systemaccordingly have played the leading role in the economic academics. However, at thattime two typical features concerning the studies about Adam Smith have always beenillustrated in the western academic world. One is more focus on studying Smith’stheory related to the economy rather than on the ethics, another is more emphasis onhis utilitarian viewpoints while less on his virtue thoughts. People used to studySmith’s thoughts at the angle of economy instead of ethics in the non-ethics academicfield, while in the ethics academic field most of the scholars mainly inclined to defineSmith’s virtue as the one that targets for the prosperousness of business and theincrease of fortune, which partially understood what Smith originally indicatedresulted in depicting him as a utilitarianism.Starting with analyzing the backgrounds and origins of smith’s virtue thoughts,the thesis chiefly grasp the core purpose through summarizing out his virtue thoughtsso as to make a comment and explore the values and senses about those virtuethoughts.In this thesis, I will resolve the themes revolving around these aspects asfollowing:1.Try to figure out the relations between Smith’s virtues and virtue ethicsby means of analyzing the relations between virtues and virtue ethics.2.Beginningwith sketching out the era in which Smith has lived and the roles he has played at thattime, I will figure out the background and history which his virtue thoughts based onby methods of analyzing those theories that has effected Smith a lot, such as GreekVirtue Ethics, Medieval Christian Theological Thoughts and Modern Empiricism etc.3.Through exploring the relations among those virtues, namely, Justice, Benevolence,Prudence and Temperance, which have been highly emphasized by Smith andexplicating the relations between Smith’s virtues and the traditional virtues, so that itis preferential for me to summarize out the framework of his integrate virtuethoughts.4.Laying a foundation on understanding all the details about Smith’s virtuesand grasping his integrate virtues system, it makes sense extremely on articulatingwhat kind of roles Smith’s virtue thoughts have played in his own life and in the history of ethic thoughts, simultaneously, figuring out the problem that he failed toresolve in his virtue theory.5.At last but not less important, I will make a comment inthe worldview and methodology of Marxist on what Smith’s virtue theory does makesense and how valuable it is, in another words, make an evaluation on the contributionand importance of his virtue thoughts in the history of virtue ethics as well as thetheoretical inspiration for our social life and the practical value for our moral life.