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Adam Smith’s Concept of ‘Propriety’: Its Meaning and Philosophical Implications

In: Adam Smith in Context

Author

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  • Leonidas Montes

    (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez)

Abstract

The first part of The Theory of Moral Sentiments is fundamental to Adam Smith’s moral philosophy. It is peculiarly entitled ‘Of the Propriety of Action’. Throughout the TMS Smith repeatedly refers to ‘propriety of conduct’, to the idea of ‘acting with propriety’, and even to ‘love of propriety’. Moreover, in the last part of the TMS he celebrates some affinity between his moral approach with all ‘those Systems which make Virtue consist in Propriety’, that is, Plato, Aristotle and Zeno. But, what does he actually mean by ‘propriety’? Does it only correspond to the canonical understanding that views propriety as the attainment of a concordance of sentiments? Or in addition to the latter, is it simply an extension of Shaftesbury’s ‘politeness’, the Addisonian criterion for proper behaviour, as the mark of gentlemanliness? In this chapter I will re-examine Smith’s concept of propriety, arguing that it is also a complex and distinctively philosophical concept.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonidas Montes, 2004. "Adam Smith’s Concept of ‘Propriety’: Its Meaning and Philosophical Implications," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Adam Smith in Context, chapter 4, pages 97-129, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-50440-0_4
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230504400_4
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