Adam Smith’s Sympathy Thought And Enlightenment Of Moral Education In University Of Our Country

Adam Smith’s <THE THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS> enjoyed a highreputation in the history of ethics. As a universal emotion of human being,sympathy wasanalyzed deeply in this book.The method of philosophical speculations was used trying toclarify the logic and value of Adam Smith’s theory of moral emotion and sympathythought. This paper is trying to provide theoretical support and promote the actual effect ofmoral education in universities of China, basing on the discussion of moral emotiontheory.The producing mechanism of Adam Smith’s sympathy was defined throughclarifying the changement of sympathy’ s meaning.The connotation and extension of“sympathy”was summed up by comparing with Spinoza, Hume, Rousseau andAsheele,etc.; the origin and the producing mechanism of Smith’s thought about sympathy werealso analyzed and discovered in this progress.Factors that affect the production ofsympathy, for instance, representations, concrete situation, relationship with actor, fortune,wealth and occupation and so on, was also analized.The working mechanism of moral emotions based on sympathy was studied in thispaper.Pointed out that sympathy was the basement of emotional resonance,the impartialspectator played a role of supervisor. They are working together in the process of themoral formation.Adam Smith’s thought about sympathy was evaluated and analyzed dialecticallyfrom it enriched the moral emotion of ethics, its basement influence to moral judgmentand people’s moral behavior that affected by the co-work of sympathy and moral reason.This paper will try to make use of Adam Smith’s theory of moral emotion andsympathy thought to the practice of moral education in colleges.Gived out enlightenmentsthat higher education should pay more attention to the emotional interaction betweenstudents and teachers; Arousing the enthusiasm of teachers’ moral education;Payingattention to students’ moral emotion experience and empathy; Paying attention to theinteraction of student’s sympathy and moral reason.