The Research On Adam Smith's Theory Of Structure Of Human Nature In The Theory Of Moral Sentiments

The theory of human nature is an eternal topic wherever in China or abroad. There is always a debate whether it is kind or evil, egoism or altruism. Actually, it is not only egoism, but also altruism. They are both two kinds of tendency of human nature. The problem is how to control these two kinds of tendency to form a human society. Nowadays in China the tendency of egoism is becoming hard to control. Therefore, it becomes a time topic to find the balance point of the two kinds of tendency of human nature. The theory of Adam Smith's structure of human nature is selected in this article to pursue the answer. In the end, the three dimensional structure of"egoism-altruism-spectator"is discovered to keep the balance of the two kinds of tendency of human nature.Smith was being in the transition period from the natural economy to the market economy. Because of the need of development of politics and economy and the influence of egoism culture, people's egoism tendency became inflated. To solve this problem Smith formed his own theory of structure of human nature on the basis of his formers. He advocated the theory of dual human nature, and thought the two tendencies might keep balance due to"a hand which cannot be seen". However, in reality these two kinds of tendencies often conflicted with each other because of the human's sociality, the relevance between human and things as well as the human's partial nature. How to coordinate these two kinds of instinct? Smith put forward the concept of"impartial spectator", thus the two-dimensional structure of"egoism-altruism"was taken place by the three-dimensional balanced structure of"egoism-altruism-spectator". Then Smith introduced the mechanism of sympathy that makes this skeleton without any blood and flesh move freely.No doubt Smith's theory has the intrinsic flaw of abstract characteristics, but Smith also made great achievements in discussing questions from the aspect of ethics and economy. And it is valuable for us to solve the difficult problem our country currently faces. It may not only deepen our understanding of relations between personality and collective, but also is helpful for us to construct the autonomy moral system.