Theory of Moral Sentiments

The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith

Adam Smith explores morals and the reason we feel and act different ways. Do we need to empathise with others? How do intent and outcome work together? If somebody is dropping rocks, they are not likely to receive any punishment. However, if another person walks underneath, the dropper may be punished for hurting them. Is this just? The same action with the same intent had different outcomes and different results. We see that commonly in society today. There is a desire to get retribution and assign blame when something "goes wrong", even if similar behavior has been fine before. Then this is taken another step to declare that similar behavior bad. These are age old questions. Smith does a good job of exploring morality and our understanding of it.