The Theory of Moral Sentiments

First published in 1759, The Theory of Moral Sentiments is Adam Smith’s first major work and lays the philosophical foundation for his later masterpiece, The Wealth of Nations. In it, Smith offers a wide-ranging examination of the psychology of moral judgment, exploring how human beings form ethical opinions and make moral choices.

Smith elaborates his groundbreaking notions of imaginative sympathy — our ability to put ourselves in another’s position — and the impartial spectator, an internalized sense of propriety that guides our behavior. He examines how conscience develops, how we judge others and ourselves, and how these mechanisms shape social order and human flourishing.

This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen and is edited by Ryan Patrick Hanley. It makes Smith’s profound insights into human nature, virtue, and justice accessible to modern readers, demonstrating their continued relevance to contemporary ethics, economics, and political philosophy.