business econ Flashcards
What are Moral Sentiments?
Moral Sentiments are a feeling of connection with the passions of others.
What question does Smith raise about moral judgments?
Where do moral judgments come from and how do people judge their own behavior?
How do Moral Sentiments operate according to Smith?
Moral Sentiments operate through a logic of mirroring, where an internal impartial spectator imaginatively reconstructs the experience of the person being observed.
What did Hume argue about principles of human nature?
Hume argued that these principles are universal and unchanging information sources from which social institutions and behaviors can be deduced.
What is the Impartial Spectator?
The Impartial Spectator is a central concept in the ethical system of Adam Smith.
What role does the impartial spectator play?
The impartial spectator is an internal conscience that informs our awareness of the nature of our own conduct.
What does the impartial spectator do?
It approves or condemns our own and others’ actions with a voice that is impossible to disregard.
What concerns Smith regarding the voice of conscience?
Smith is concerned with giving an explanation of the voice of conscience.
What is the basis of moral judgment according to Smith?
The jurisdiction of the man within is founded on the desire of praise-worthiness and the aversion to blame-worthiness.
Who is considered the father of economics?
Adam Smith is considered the father of economics.
How did Adam Smith view humans?
Adam Smith saw humans as creatures driven by passions and self-regulated by their ability to reason and their capacity for sympathy.
What does the duality of human nature serve to do?
It serves to pit individuals against one another and provide them with the rational and moral faculties to create institutions to mitigate destructive struggles and create more common good.
What can economic incentives signal?
Economic incentives may be counterproductive when they signal that selfishness is an appropriate response.
What can a learning environment through economic incentives lead to?
It can lead people to adopt more self-interested motivations, compromise the individual’s sense of self-determination, and convey a message of distrust, disrespect, and unfair intent.
What does the distribution of wealth in society depend on?
It depends on our innate sympathy with the rich.
