Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy and Its Relevance for Modern Management

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Philosophy of Management

Part of the book series: Handbooks in Philosophy ((HP))

  • 194 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter we reconsider Adam Smith’s works The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1766), for evidence of his Enlightenment contribution to responsible management in the twenty-first century. Far from being the poster boy of unregulated, neoclassical market economics as falsely idealized by Milton Friedman and others, we sample more fully and patiently to reveal the overlooked, complex interdependence of self-interest and social justice that plainly results. We suggest that a more humanistic, just, and social economy could be developed from the themes sympathetically developed in these two complementary works.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the opportunity to elaborate earlier ideas including Werhane (1989a, 1989b) and Bevan and Werhane (2015).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Associated Press (2019) Sears saved from bankruptcy liquidation, stores to remain open. https://www.nj.com/business/2019/01/sears-saved-from-bankruptcy-liquidation-stores-to-remain-open.html. Accessed 15 Feb 2019

  • Bevan D, Werhane P (2015) The inexorable sociality of moral agency and the indelible role of other(s) in Adam Smith. J Bus Ethics 27:327–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bobo K (2009) Wage theft in America. The New Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Cilliers P (1998) Complexity and postmodernism: understanding complex systems. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Frisch M (1958, rev. 1990) The firebugs. Trans. Bullock M. Hill and Wang, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Global Findings (2018) www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/Findings/global-Findings/. Accessed 18 Nov 2019

  • Goleman D (1995) Emotional intelligence. Bantam Dell Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Goleman D (2005) Emotional intelligence. Bantam Dell Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Grampp WD (2000) What did Smith mean by the invisible hand? J Polit Econ 108(3):441–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griswold CL (1999) Adam Smith and the virtues of enlightenment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Hühn M (2019) Adam Smith’s philosophy of science: economics as moral imagination. J Bus Ethics 155:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson I (2003/2005) Out-take and interview media from the corporation. In Achbar M, Abbott J, Bakan J (eds) The corporation. Metrodome, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamb RB (1974) Adam Smith’s system: sympathy not self-interest. J Hist Ideas 35(4):671–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macfie AL (1967) The individual in society: papers on Adam Smith. George Allen & Unwin Ltd, Abingdon

    Google Scholar 

  • Maguire S, Hardy C, Lawrence TB (2004) Institutional entrepreneurship in emerging fields: HIV/AIDS treatment advocacy in Canada. Acad Manag J 47:657–679

    Google Scholar 

  • Qualcomm (2019) Wall Street Journal. April 19. B14

    Google Scholar 

  • Rand A (1974) Philosophy: who needs it? Address to the graduating class of the United States Military Academy at West Point

    Google Scholar 

  • Rand A (1999) Atlas shrugged. Plume. Penguin, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Raphael DD (2007) The impartial spectator: Adam Smith’s moral philosophy. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Salovey P, Mayer J (1990) Emotional intelligence. Imagin Cogn Pers 9:185–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senge P (1990/2006) The fifth discipline. Random House, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith A (1762–4/1978) The lectures on jurisprudence. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith A (1759/1976) The theory of moral sentiments. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith A (1776/1998) The wealth of nations. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith A (1750/2010) Essays on philosophical subjects. Kessinger Publishing, Whitefish

    Google Scholar 

  • Stigler G (1971) Smith’s travels on the ship of state. Hist Polit Econ 3:265–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (2011) Guiding principles on business and human rights: implementing the United Nations “protect, respect and remedy” framework. United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Werhane P (1989a) Adam Smith and his legacy for modern capitalism. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Werhane P (1989b) The role of self-interest in Adam Smith’s wealth of nations. J Philos 86:669–680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werhane PH (1991) Freedom, commodification, and the alienation of labor in Adam Smith’s wealth of nations. Philos Forum 22:383–398

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Darden Business School, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Patricia H. Werhane

  2. St Martin’s Institute of Higher Education, Hamrun, Malta

    David J. Bevan

Authors
  1. Patricia H. Werhane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David J. Bevan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia H. Werhane .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Cristina Neesham

  2. Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Steven Segal

Section Editor information

  1. Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK

    Cristina Neesham

  2. University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia

    Rob Macklin

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Werhane, P.H., Bevan, D.J. (2020). Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy and Its Relevance for Modern Management. In: Neesham, C., Segal, S. (eds) Handbook of Philosophy of Management. Handbooks in Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48352-8_26-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48352-8_26-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-48352-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-48352-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation