ABSTRACT OF PAPER
Title: Astronomical Morals: The Role of Astronomy in the Development of Morality in Adam Smith
Author: Paganelli Maria Pia
This paper claims that Adam Smith’s theory of moral sentiments is deeply indebted to astronomical theories. Smith’s interest and knowledge of astronomy are shown in his essay The History of Astronomy. In The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith claims that we develop morally by changing our perspective, which smoothes the arrogance of our self-love as we realized that we are not the center of the universe. The realization that we are not the center of the actual universe is achieved in a very similar way in Fontenelle’s Conversation on the Plurality of Worlds. By changing perspective with their imagination, Fontenelle’s characters too humble their arrogance realizing they are not the center of the universe. Smith’s system seems therefore the application of astronomy to morality.
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