Who is the impartial spectator

The book also has an historical interest, showing Smith's thought in the context of British moral philosophy of the 18th century. Scottish thinkers formed a notable section of that important segment of the history of philosophy. Beginning with criticism of Hobbes, they developed a distinctive line of theory mostly empiricist , the chief figures being Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Thomas Reid.

Smith's theory may reasonably be judged the most stimulating and the most persuasive. Smith's thought on ethics developed as he grew older, and there is a substantial difference between the early editions of his book and the 6th edition, published a few months before his death.

This study makes a special point of keeping an eye on this difference, thus bringing out the progression of Smith's thought. Keywords: Adam Smith , conscience , ethics , history , imagination , sympathy. Raphael, author Emeritus, Imperial College, London.

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Username Please enter your Username. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? All these are objects which he cannot easily see, which naturally he does not look at, and with regard to which he is provided with no mirror which can present them to his view. Bring him into society, and he is immediately provided with the mirrow which he wanted before. It is placed in the countenance and behaviour of those he lives with, which always marke when they enter into, and when they disapprove of his sentiments.

Every spectator is thus a tribal or partial spectator. We could all be said to belong to particular tribes or to find ourselves at the so-called intersection of tribes.

We may all be doomed, over and over again, to give or receive fifteen minutes of hate. What gives me some comfort is another observation Smith makes. Who I am—my identity, so to speak—is not a person marked by some reductionist material condition, or someone who constructs an abstract and artificial identity , but rather a person who is drawn outside myself by relationships with others.

My identity is not an abstraction built upon race, ethnicity, or class, but a result of the roles I play in real relationships. I am a son, brother, husband, and father, engaged in real relationships with real people. In these relationships, I am, to be sure, both a spectator and an agent, but the most powerful and intense bonds begin with love.

Of course, that requires a healthy family, which would be the subject for an entirely different set of reflections. I f I start with and from familial love and responsibility, I become attached to communities, institutions, and governments that help my family flourish. My allegiance to these larger groups is weaker and conditional. But I am capable of loving my country because I first love my family. What is this distinctive form of life, human life, open to the pursuit of self-transcending, even self-forgetting knowledge and seeks a habitable home.