Shaping Social Morality And Order

Adam Smith(1723-1790)made it clear that he tried to create a new social science method different from the modern natural law system.When he thought about morality,politics,economy and law,he found that they were unified in the logic of "society"."Society" has become a new starting point and new way of Smith’s thinking.This paper attempts to connect Smith’s research on morality and law with the clue of "society".This paper is divided into three parts.The first part is entitled "the spirit and principles of society: propriety and sympathy",aiming to explain the basic principles of Smith’s moral philosophy.Smith presupposed the existence of society and took social nature of man as the basis of the whole theory.His moral philosophy tried to solve two core problems: what constitutes virtue? On what basis do people realize virtue? He called these two questions "the nature of virtue" and "the principle of approbation".Smith believed that the essence of virtue lies in propriety,and sympathy is our ability to recognize virtue.The spirit and principles of society are revealed through propriety and sympathy.The second part is entitled "the mirror of society: the impartial spectator",which aims to explain how Smith dispelled the God as entity and essence.Smith created an image similar to Janus,the double faced God--"the impartial spectator".He has both divinity and humanity,facing the eternal "natural society" and the law of "natural justice" on the one hand,and focusing on the real and Historical Society on the other.This impartial spectator is not the existence of reality,but the product of people’s imagination and the personification of society.Only through the impartial spectator can human beings realize the rules and order of natural society.The third part is entitled "social order: rules of justice",which aims to explain Smith’s "natural jurisprudence".In Smith’s moral philosophy,justice as "negative virtue" has many unique qualities,which makes justice become the basis of maintaining social order.The basic principles and spirit of natural justice are universal,but they have different forms in specific historical stages and environments.Smith called these special rules based on the principle of public utility "laws of policy",which was different from "laws of justice".In the game between "law of justice" and "law of policy",there are the wisdom and skills of legislators.