Article ID: CBB287885002

Charles Darwin’s Theory of Moral Sentiments: What Darwin’s Ethics Really Owes to Adam Smith (2017)

unapi

When we read the Origin, we cannot help but hear echoes of the Wealth of Nations. Darwin's "economy of nature" features a "division of labour" that leads to complexity and productivity. We should not, however, analyze Darwin's ethics through this lens. Darwin did not draw his economic ideas from Smith, nor did he base his ethics on an economic foundation. Darwin's ethics rest on Smith's notion from the Theory of Moral Sentiments of an innate human faculty of sympathy. Darwin gave this faculty an evolutionary interpretation and built on this foundation an ethics far removed from what is commonly supposed.

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Authors & Contributors
Woodford, Peter
Jamie Milton Freestone
Furlan, Enrico
Daniel Luban
Hicks, Daniel J.
Jared Holley
Concepts
Moral philosophy
Science and ethics
Science and religion
Ethics
Philosophy
Science and society
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
21st century
20th century, early
20th century
Medieval
Places
Great Britain
England
France
Paris (France)
Institutions
Université de Paris
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