Adam Smith On The Limits Of Self Interest

Adam Smith is revered by conservatives who view him as an advocate for selfishness. They ignore the limits that Smith placed on the role of self interest in motivating behavior. This article provides some quotes from Smith on the limits to self interest. Smith was a moral philosopher and he believed that empathy for others placed a limit on self interest. He also recognized that we care about how others will react to our behavior. This makes us reluctant to take actions in which we benefit from harm to others. Most of us care deeply about our reputations and Smith believed that managing our reputations is an important limit on purely selfish behavior.

I think that J.K. Galbraith explained perfectly why conservatives have emphasized Smith's ideas on the social benefits derived from self interest, and have ignored the limits that he placed on selfishness, in the quote below:

" The modern conservative is engaged in one of mankind's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a moral justification for selfishness." This is how Ayn Rand described herself, and it reflects the justification for conservative economic policies. There is no public interest other than that accomplished by the invisible hand of self interest.