Business Ethics in Adam Smith's Works

• Autorzy: Stefan Zabieglik
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

This paper presents some views of Adam Smith based on some selected problems of business ethics. These can be found in his famous works-The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations-and in his lectures at the Glasgow University, where he was a professor of moral philosophy in 1752-1764. The main argument of the paper is that ethical problems (presented mainly in The Theory of Moral Sentiments) are also present in his political economy, which contradicts some neoliberal interpretations of his works as ones of the "intellectual father of capitalism". In The Wealth of Nations, Smith criticizes each social class because of the fact that its interests are incompatible with the good of the whole society. He condemned the monopolist efforts of the traders and entrepreneurs, described some property owners as "vain egoists" and advanced the interests of the poor. He maintained that the interests of the traders should be supported when these were compatible with the interest of the consumers. The desire for possession and wealth should be analyzed from the social point of view: It is good when it contributes to the common good and the reproduction of humankind. (original abstract)

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Ethics; Business ethics; History of economic thought; Philosophical thought

PL

Etyka; Etyka biznesu; Historia myśli ekonomicznej; Poglądy filozoficzne

• Czasopismo: Annales : etyka w życiu gospodarczym
• Rocznik: 2017
• Tom: 20
• Numer: nr 6
• Strony: 21--32

Twórcy

autor

Stefan Zabieglik

• Gdańsk University of Technology

Bibliografia

• Hochfeld, A. (1975). Wstęp. In D. Hume, Badania dotyczące zasad moralności (A. Hochfeld, Trans.). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
• Montes, L. (2003). Das Adam Smith Problem: Its origins, the stages of the current debate, and one implication for our understanding of sympathy. Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 25(1), 63-90.
• Narecki, K. (Ed.). 1994. Słownik terminów Arystotelesowych. In Arystoteles [Aristotle], Dzieła wszystkie (Vol. 7). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
• Rembowski, J. (1989). Empatia. Studium psychologiczne. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
• Smith, A. (1759/1989). The theory of moral sentiments. London-Edinburgh: A. Millar, A. Kincaid & J. Bell. [Polish translation: Teoria uczuć moralnych. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe].
• Smith, A. (1776/1954). An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. London: W. Strahan & T. Cadell. [Polish translation: (1954). Badania nad naturą i przyczynami bogactwa narodów. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe].
• Smith, A. (1978). Lectures on jurisprudence. In R. L. Meek, D. D. Raphael, & P. G. Stein (Eds.), Glasgow Edition of Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith (Vol. 5). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Zabieglik, S. (2002). The reception of Adam Smith's works in Poland from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. In K. Tribe & H. Mizuta (Eds.), A critical bibliography of Adam Smith. London: Pickering and Chatto.
• Zabieglik, S. (2003). Adam Smith. Warszawa: Wiedza Powszechna.
• Zabieglik, S. (2006). Etyka życia gospodarczego w twórczości Adama Smitha. Annales. Ethics in Economic Life, 9(1), 115-124.

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.18778/1899-2226.20.6.02