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Title: Adam Smith's Fair and Impartial Spectator: Fairness was about Fair-Play Rules for Society, a Pre-Condition for Wealth Creation

Authors: Vernon L. Smith

Addresses: Author address listing can be found in the "About the Authors" section at the end of the article.

Abstract: In his first book, Adam Smith used the metaphor of the fair and impartial spectator to articulate his model of the maturation process whereby people learn to follow general rules (norms) that take into account the human sentiments of gratitude and resentment in others. Through the impartial spectator, human action is governed by self-command. I will show why, in Smith's model, our self-interested nature is a key part of the process of learning to act in sympathetic other-regarding ways in our close knit communities; how the rules of propriety naturally inform property rights in the civil order, and thus to set the stage for explaining the wealth creation process articulated in his widely celebrated second book.

Keywords: Adam Smith; fairness; impartial spectator; wealth creation; moral sentiments.

DOI: 10.1504/JBM.2016.141252

Journal of Business and Management, 2016 Vol.22 No.2, pp.115 - 124

Published online: 05 Sep 2024 *