The Spirit of Smithian Laws

Daniel Klein’s The Spirit of Smithian Laws is a well-crafted guide to the nuances in Adam Smith’s moral theory. The book covers a wide range of topics and is loosely organized around the central theme of understanding an allegorical approach to moral philosophy. Most of the chapters are derived from previously published articles, so most of them could stand alone quite well. However, by pulling them together as a book, the spirit behind Smith’s morals becomes more evident than would be possible if the chapters were read separately.

Smith’s book on moral philosophy, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS), quickly fell out of fashion after Smith’s lifetime and has only recently started to be appreciated again. Towards the end of the book, Klein offers an explanation for TMS’s decline and revival. His explanation for the decline and rise of Smith’s moral philosophy helps the reader understand why Smith is primarily seen as an economist instead of a philosopher and frames the book well. I recommend reading the final chapter, “Circa 1800,” after reading the introduction but before starting the rest of The Spirit of Smithian Laws. While the final chapter is a strong conclusion to the book, it is also excellent at providing context around Smith’s philosophical work falling out of fashion so quickly after its publication and the striking differences between Smith and those who immediately followed him.

The time around the year 1800 is treated as a sharp inflection point or a discontinuity from the history before it in the chapter “Circa 1800.” There were radical material changes taking place around 1800; the Industrial Revolution was kicking off and initiating modern economic growth. But the chapter instead focuses on cultural/spiritual/intellectual shifts that took place at the same time. Esoteric and ironic writing styles and interpretations fell out of fashion in favor of exotericism and literalism, the age of revolutions began, rulers became leaders, subjects became citizens, the new was cherished more than the established, and faith in God or a beholder began to dwindle.

The transformations in societies around the year 1800 cast a shadow on the world that came before it, making it significantly more difficult for modern readers to understand writing done just before 1800 than that done just after. Thus, Smith’s work gets trapped in the shadow cast by the year 1800.

The Spirit of Smithian Laws is an attempt to shine a light on the shadows cast on Smith’s philosophical work. Klein does this by looking at allegory, non-foundationalism, and recursivity (referred to as “spirals”) in Smith’s work. Other topics are covered, but these are the topics at the core of Klein’s project.

Allegory plays an important role in TMS. Klein describes Smith’s organon (principle for organizing thought) as “that inside of every moral sentiment there lurks a sympathy” (p. 67). Seeing the sympathy is easy in social situations where an action sparks approbation or disapprobation. You can also judge the quality of the judgment by the knowledge and impartiality of the spectator. People have to sympathize with their conscience, their man within the breast, in situations where they are alone or the people around them have partial judgments. 

Smith describes the man within the breast (conscience) as the “the representative of mankind, and substitute of the Deity” (Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments [Liberty Fund, 1982], p. 130, note r). Here, Smith’s philosophy becomes more spiritual, where the most impartial spectator is God or a God-like being endows humanity with consciences to be its representative in the hearts of humans. Klein frames this understanding as being allegorical; his understanding is compatible with theism but is not dependent on it.

Smithian scholars disagree about whether Smith’s depiction of the impartial spectator is god-like or is merely a human figure. Klein marshals the available evidence from TMS to substantiate the case for Smithian allegory. The case is compelling, as Smith does describe the “all-wise Author of Nature” as having “made man, if I may say so, the immediate judge of mankind; and has, in this respect, as in many others, created him after his own image, and appointed him his vicegerent upon earth, to superintend the behaviour of his brethren upon earth,” but also notes that mankind also has an appeal “to a much higher tribunal, to the tribunal of their own consciences, to that of the supposed impartial and well-informed spectator, to that of the man within the breast, the great judge and arbiter of their conduct” (TMS, pp. 128–130.31–32).

Klein particularly emphasizes that Smith’s philosophy is non-foundationalist. By that he means that there is not a foundational principle that his philosophical work rests on. Moral philosophers after Smith have founded their moral systems on common sense, reason, utility, power, etc. TMS does not offer its readers a similar foundation.

Although Smith’s system centers around the role of sympathy, sympathy creates a number of recursivities that other philosophical systems would not embrace. Sympathy is not a set reference point or analytical criterion to judge action like utility or reason. It is necessarily social and relational, even if it is with an allegorical being.

Klein’s spirals are closely linked to Smith’s non-foundationalism but are somewhat distinct. The spirals are recursive relationships between our understandings of virtues, sentiments, and ideas. What in one context is an explanation in another can be an explanandum (thing to be explained), requiring its own explanation, with the process repeating ad infinitum. Judgments can become the subject of judgment. Our understanding of propriety informs our understanding of beneficialness, so a new understanding of propriety informs a new understanding of beneficialness, which can inform a new understanding of propriety. 

“Thinking spiral” does fit nicely within Smith’s non-foundationalism. The spirals need not have a beginning or an end. Instead of building a system up from first principles, spirals encapsulate that interplay between various understandings as moral learning occurs. Although they are non-foundational, the most important aspect about them is that they capture the idea of moral learning as it occurs.

Smith’s understanding of morality is one that develops through actual experience, not what William James (“The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life,” in The Will to Believe [Cambridge University Press, 2014], pp. 184–215) refers to as a “closet-philosopher’s rule.” General moral rules are “ultimately founded upon experience of what, in particular instances, our moral faculties, our natural sense of merit and propriety, approve, or disapprove of” (TMS, p. 159.8). The sense of constant feedback and moral learning from experience permeates Smith’s work and Klein’s spirals help capture how dynamic that process can be.

Our moral judgments are shaped by exemplars, and Smith is one such example. The Spirit of Smithian Laws presses its readers to develop a greater understanding of Smith’s moral thought, which can sharpen our own judgments. The insights, although focused on TMS, are not limited to TMS. Many of the ideas developed in The Spirit of Smithian Laws also shed light on topics in The Wealth of Nations (WN). Smith’s potential esoteric side, his engagement with David Hume, his use of circumstantial rules, and his views on Jean-Jacques Rousseau all impact how to understand both WN and TMS.

Klein works to uncover more of the spirit that animates and frames Smith’s project. He pushes for a more complex and nuanced understanding of Smith. The Spirit of Smithian Laws is a great guide for anyone interested in exploring the depth of Smith’s philosophical work.