Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on THE INBORN SENSE OF MORALITY: ADAM SMITH
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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper discusses the theory of Adam Smith in his The Theory of Moral Sentiment and answers the thesis question: Is a person born with a sense of morality? Supporting quotes from the author's text. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_MBsmith.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
book, In The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith underscores that there were several prevailing ideas at the time, but suggests that they are both off base. Rather than morality being
dictated by the sovereign or virtue of ones own reasoning, Smith states that people are born with a sense of morality, just as they are born with an idea of
what is beautiful. Given this, then, the students thesis for this sample paper may be: Is a person born with a sense of morality, or is it acquired over time?
Smith uses as his first argument the idea of sympathy, a feeling that one has for his fellow human being. This feeling is not dictated by the ruler,
nor can it be worked out on paper. Therefore, he deduces, this sense of affability comes from an inborn sense of morality. He writes: "As we have no immediate experience
of what other men feel, we can form no idea of the manner in which they are affected, but by conceiving, what we ourselves should feel in the like situation"(Smith
9). Smith believes, then, that the natural sense of sympathy coupled with conscience enable mankind to live together in a fairly organized and beneficial community. Therefore, the student
could report, Smith is stating that morality is the product of ones nature, not of reason, as many of his contemporaries believed. His main argument for this is that human
beings have an innate sense of pleasure when their ideas and sentiments are echoed by others. This desire to have group identity is simply a product of nature he believes.
Given this, then, morality is also an inborn product of nature. He goes on to rationalize that since everyone finds this type of sympathy pleasurable, that everyone will
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