Classical economic theory tends to recognize Smith as an economist who took a glance to moral philosophy; not a serious moral philosopher with great moral concerns. That is why, The Wealth of Nations was regarded as an independent work from his moral work -The Theory of Moral Sentiments- and became more ...
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Classical economic theory tends to recognize Smith as an economist who took a glance to moral philosophy; not a serious moral philosopher with great moral concerns. That is why, The Wealth of Nations was regarded as an independent work from his moral work -The Theory of Moral Sentiments- and became more popular. However, Smith considered economics and ethics complementary. It must be made beyond question that, for Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations are complementary and not exclusive. He wrote on moral philosophy first and he was more a moral philosopher than an economist. Smith, who is usually regarded as the patron saint of “capitalism” predicted many of its negative consequences such as “wages below the level needed for maintenance,” “exploitation of workers in the colonies,” “alienation in consequence of the division of labor,” “destruction of one’s skills,” and “reduction of workers’ human talents.” He tried to prevent these negative consequences by focusing on some moral issues like “sympathy,” “justice in increasing the level of workers’ wages,” and “equal opportunity for competition in economy.” However, the unilateral interpretation of classical economic theory of Smith’s normative puzzle and neglecting his moral concerns in The Wealth of Nations and The theory of Moral Sentiments made many of his predictions about the negative consequences of “capitalism” come true. Based on Adam Smith’s moral ideas and “Islamic-Iranian Pattern of Development,” this paper tries to put forward a new interpretation of “capitalism” that could be used as a strategy for realizing “Economic Epic” and promoting “National Production.”
