"Smith’s system can help adolescents build a moral narrative for their developing social lives."

Details Available in paperback (two volumes) from Liberty Fund, Inc. 

The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith’s first and in his own mind most important work, outlines his view of proper conduct and the institutions and sentiments that make men virtuous. He develops his doctrine of the impartial spectator, whose hypothetical disinterested judgment we use to distinguish right from wrong in any given situation. 

Smith’s Lectures on Jurisprudence, originally delivered at the University of Glasgow in 1762–1763, presents his “theory of the rules by which civil government ought to be directed.” The chief purpose of government, according to Smith, is to preserve justice; and “the object of justice is security from injury.” The state must protect the individual’s right to his person, property, reputation, and social relations.

Reflecting Adam Smith’s wide learning and varied interests, these essays shed considerable light on his place in the Scottish Enlightenment. Included are histories of astronomy, ancient logic, and ancient physics; essays on the “imitative” arts and the affinity between music, dancing, and poetry; and a critical review of Samuel Johnson’s famous Dictionary, which Smith originally published in the Edinburgh Review (1755–1756).