Download file 110 KB Texto completo en español More of: María Elton

This essay holds that a certain popularization of the thought of Adam Smith has accentuated the importance of self-interest in a commercial society to the detriment of benevolence. Self-interest would be immoral and benevolence moral. However, when exploring his philosophy set down in the Theory of the Moral Sentiments, which lies in the background in The Wealth of Nations, it is seen that self-interest may be virtuous and even become an inferior prudence, while benevolence is also important to the commercial society in correcting the imbalances that appear in some aspects of its development. This article suggests that benevolence is not only compatible with the inferior prudence in The Wealth of Nations yet is also sometimes required. Adam Smith admits that the State must not only protect commutative justice among individuals but also demand a certain degree of distributive justice by society in order to remedy certain fundamental inequalities, like that which arises from the division of labor: the dehumanization of poor workers. Accordingly, Maria Elton concludes, the system of natural freedom hinges on the moral and political education of all individuals comprising a society.