Abstract
Adam Smith believed that there is an absolute standard of virtue, that acting by this standard represented the perfection of moral character, and that a community of individuals who achieved this ideal would enjoy the greatest possible Wealth of Nations.
However, Smith did not believe we can know this standard, and in any case he did not believe any human has the self-command to achieve this standard, so as a practical matter he did not believe that the greatest Wealth of Nations is achievable.
But, Smith believed that we can develop an informed image of the ideal by culling from the lessons of history the principles that lead to progress and thus inform that ideal. For Smith the ideal is a limit, not achievable but approachable. The raison d’être of his moral philosophy was to imagine the contours of the ideal of virtue and to advocate for institutions that nurtured a continuous approximation of that ideal in individuals so that humankind could progress toward that limiting case: The greatest Wealth of Nations and secure tranquility for each individual.
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References
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Evensky, J. (2017). Adam Smith on the Greatest Wealth of Nations: How Progress Depends on Virtuous Citizenship. In: Sison, A., Beabout, G., Ferrero, I. (eds) Handbook of Virtue Ethics in Business and Management. International Handbooks in Business Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6510-8_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6510-8_8
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