Abstract
In this chapter we reconsider Adam Smith’s works The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1766), for evidence of his Enlightenment contribution to responsible management in the twenty-first century. Far from being the poster boy of unregulated, neoclassical market economics as falsely idealized by Milton Friedman and others, we sample more fully and patiently to reveal the overlooked, complex interdependence of self-interest and social justice that plainly results. We suggest that a more humanistic, just, and social economy could be developed from the themes sympathetically developed in these two complementary works.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the opportunity to elaborate earlier ideas including Werhane (1989a, 1989b) and Bevan and Werhane (2015).
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Werhane, P.H., Bevan, D.J. (2020). Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy and Its Relevance for Modern Management. In: Neesham, C., Segal, S. (eds) Handbook of Philosophy of Management. Handbooks in Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48352-8_26-1
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