The Theory of Moral Sentiments

While the book is nicely bound and the reproduction is clearly authentic, THIS IS ONLY PARTS 1-4! I’m not sure how these people get away with not mentioning this is ONLY HALF OF THE BOOK (at the time of this purchase and posting). Who wants half a book? I recommend Penguin Classics with an introduction by Amartya Sen, for the FULL book (parts 1-7), which I purchased on Amazon. I should have been more skeptical when they did not offer a “look inside.” Buyer beware, as usual!

316 pages as advertised. Some other reviews of a similar book noted defective typography or a partial book. Not this one. Professionally typeset with some minor formatting shortcuts. Not easy on the eyes but OK considering the alternative is a bigger book. No index, but the original has no index. This is a classic for a good price.

Adam Smith is rightly known for The Wealth of Nations, the first modern economics book. One might call him the grandfather of modern economics. But he was primarily a moral philosopher, and I believe he himself saw The Theory of Moral Sentiments as his most important book. In it he examines the moral and emotional bases for personal interactions among people. If you read only a few pages, you will be rewarded with aphorisms you can drop into conversations to make you sound very wise, maybe as wise as Adam Smith can make you.

This formerly obscure work is rapidly (and deservedly) becoming a landmark in the field of moral philosophy. Smith anticipates and lays the groundwork for psychology and economics long before those became recognized disciplines. Those who critique capitalism and free markets as embodying cold-hearted individualism need to take a second look, as Smith's Theory begins and ends with discussions of "compassion", "empathy, and "fellow feeling" as the organizing principals of moral and ethical human relations.

This book, like many of that era, is tough reading. There are a lot of pages one needs to stop and think about the concept presented for a day or so. It is full of intellectually weighty stuff. I found the book key to Smith's foundation and framework for his later, The Wealth of Nations. It is also the foundation for the statement in the Declaration of Independence, "pursuit of happiness". It is worth reading to understand what the Founding Fathers of the United States really meant by "happiness".

Many books I had recently read quoted Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments, so I wanted to see what was so great about Smith. The author is verbose, but then again most philosophers are wordy. It is worth the read, but towards the end I was rushing through paragraphs to finish. Lots of good insight into the thinking and morality of that time and Smith does get his points across. Anyone who is interested in studying morals should give this book a try.

Firstly, this is a remarkably clear exegesis of an empirical theory of ethics that was highly influential in its time, but is little read today. It is clear and interesting and makes a good argument for the idea that there is a moral sense. It is, in fact, surprising how well the writing and reasoning stand the test of time. This is an accurate and complete edition without many of OCR problems which seem to plague other editions. If you are a professional philosopher or just enjoy ideas, this is a very sound edition for you.

Not full book. Only 4 parts not all 7.Poor advertising.

I read the reviews after buying and this made me to cancel my order, because some buyers expressed that this book only contained parts I - IV. However it was too late and the book came anyway. I reordered another edition and both arrived together, the content of both books are identical on comparison with seven parts.

A must read if studying Adam Smith.

the text for this version is very close to the edges and must be opened on end to be read with ease.

It was a slog for me to get through it, but the occasional glimpses of relevance to modern day economics and social responsibility make it worth it.

This is not all of the book. The Theory of Moral Sentiments consists of seven parts, while this volume features only four of them. Got the kindle version to actually read the full book, very disappointing.