Adam Smith — Capitalism, Free Market & Invisible Hand

Knowledge Themes

Structural Subtopics

• Concept of the Impartial Spectator in moral decision-making
• Distinction between self-interest and selfishness
• The Das Adam Smith Problem: reconciling sympathy with self-interest
• Ethical limitations of the Invisible Hand in social welfare
• Moral justification of the division of labour and its impact on worker alienation
• Role of empathy and social approbation in economic exchange
• State's moral obligation to provide public goods and education
• Ethics of competition versus the injustice of monopolies
• Tension between property rights and the security of the poor
• Wealth as a means to social well-being rather than mere accumulation
• Moral responsibility of businesses toward community and stakeholders
• Application of Smithian ethics to contemporary compassionate capitalism
• Limits of market mechanisms in internalizing environmental externalities
• Ethical foundations of trust and social capital in market functioning