Human Nature, Mind and the Self in Adam Smith's Moral Philosophy

Riccardo Bonfiglioli is academic tutor and subject expert at the University of Bologna. He is associate member of the Walras-Pareto Centre (University of Lausanne), dynamic psychology researcher and MBSR instructor (Aim Milan).

Part I. General Introduction.- Chapter 1. Research questions, aims and expected results.- 1.1. A philosophical problem: research questions and aims.- 1.2. Book structure and expected results.- Chapter 2. Methodological remarks.- 2.1. A methodology between reconstruction and interpretation.- 2.1.1. A focus on Adam Smith's style.- 2.2. Adam Smith's articulation of the concept of 'human being'.- 2.3. Thematic contexts of Smith's elaboration of the concept of the human being.- 2.4. A moral glossary on Smith's conception of human beings: merit, virtue and propriety.- Chapter 3. Adam Smith's historical and biographical context.- 3.1. A sketch of Adam Smith's historical framework.- 3.2. Biographical outline of Adam Smith.- Part II. Adam Smith On Nature And Human Nature.- Chapter 4. A semantic overview of 'nature' and 'natural' in Adam Smith's moral philosophy.- 1.1. Nature, human nature and morality.- 1.2. Conclusion.- Chapter 5. A synthesis of Adam Smith's conception of human nature.- 2.1. Introduction.- 2.2. Sources and theoretical contexts of Adam Smith's moral conception of human nature.- 2.3. Sociability, the role of language and the human propensity to exchange.- 2.4. Human nature, harmony and society.- 2.5. Human nature and morality: Adam Smith's conception of self-love.- 2.6. Harmony between oneself and the others in Adam Smith's moral philosophy: the desire to better one's condition and the desire to gain deserved approval.- 2.6.1. Some reflections on the role of happiness in Adam Smith's moral philosophy.- 2.7. Conclusion.- Part III. The Origin And Development Of The Self In Adam Smith's Moral Philosophy: History And Natural Self Correction.- Chapter 6. Philosophy of history, morality and human beings.- 1.1. Adam Smith's philosophy of history: conjectural history and four-stage theory.- 1.1.1. History and human nature.- 1.2. Historical context and the self: Adam Smith's conception of the savage.- 1.3. Conclusion.- Chapter 7. Natural self correction and human beings.- 2.1. Natural self correction and morality: infancy, sympathy and self-development.- 2.2. A focus on the psychological origin of the self.- 2.3. Conclusion.- Part IV. Adam Smith's Model Of The Mind: Sympathy, Imagination, The Impartial Spectator And Immediacy.- Chapter 8. Perfect and imperfect sympathy in Adam Smith's moral philosophy.- 1.1. Introduction.- 1.2. Passions in Adam Smith's moral philosophy.- 1.2.1. The immediate dimension of passions.- 1.3.  Natural and moral imagination.- 1.4. Perfect and imperfect sympathy.- 1.5. The terminological shades of sympathy.- 1.6. Conclusion.- Chapter 9. Immediacy as philosophical problem in Adam Smith's moral theory.- 2.1. Introduction.- 2.2. Imagination, human nature and perception.- 2.2.1. Imagination, harmony and aesthetics.- 2.3. Pleasure and pain in Adam Smith's moral philosophy.- 2.4. Harmony, imagination and the impartial spectator.- 2.5. Prudence, the impartial spectator and immediacy.- 2.6. The origin and expression of moraljudgment: the impartial spectator and immediacy.- 2.7. Conclusion.- Conclusions.