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An Analysis of Self-Love and Sympathy with Special Reference to Bernard De Mandeville and Adam Smith

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An Analysis of Self-Love and Sympathy with Special Reference to Bernard De Mandeville and Adam Smith AN ANALYSIS OF SELF-LOVE AND SYMPATHY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BERNARD DE MANDEVILLE AND ADAM SMITH A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY IŞIL ÇEŞMELİ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY JANUARY 2017 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr.Tülin GENÇÖZ Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ş. Halil TURAN Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ş. Halil TURAN Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Kurtuluş DİNÇER (Hacettepe U., PHIL) Prof. Dr. Ş. Halil TURAN (METU, PHIL) Prof. Dr. Ertuğrul R. TURAN (Ankara U., PHIL) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Samet BAĞÇE (METU, PHIL) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış PARKAN (METU, PHIL) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Işıl ÇEŞMELİ Signature : iii ABSTRACT AN ANALYSIS OF SELF-LOVE AND SYMPATHY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BERNARD DE MANDEVILLE AND ADAM SMITH Çeşmeli, Işıl Ph.D., Department of Philosophy Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Ş. Halil Turan January 2017, 213 pages Self-love and sympathy as two antagonistic views regarding human nature occupied an important place in eighteenth century philosophical milieu. First view, inherited from Thomas Hobbes was defended passionately by Bernard de Mandeville. In The Fable of the Bees Mandeville depicts main dynamics of civil society by anatomizing human nature, moral motivations of individuals and the structure of politics. His notoriety among eighteenth century moralists was due to his famous motto “private vices public benefits” and his assertion of selfishness as the basic motive of human nature. Adam Smith, contrary to Mandeville’s moral egoism, defends sympathy as a ground of moral judgments and draw attention to altruistic characteristic of human nature in The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). Although Smith propounds a completely different theory that of Mandeville in his earlier work it seems very surprising that he mentions self-love as a basic motive of human beings in The Wealth of Nations (1776). In this study, the role of iv self-love on Smith’s moral theory and economic system and possible effects of Mandeville’s doctrines will be discussed. On the basis of differences between Mandeville’s and Smith’s theories of morals and Smith’s stance against moral egoism this study aims to show that Smith’s system cannot be considered as a reconstruction of Mandeville’s social theory and system of morals. This study also demonstrates that when Smith’s works are examined thoroughly it will follow that Smith succeeds in overcoming Mandeville’s moral egoism by reconciling sympathy with self-love. Keywords: Self-love, Sympathy, Moral egoism, Virtue, Vice v ÖZ BERNARD DE MANDEVILLE VE ADAM SMITH’E GÖNDERMELERLE BEN- SEVGİSİ VE DUYGUDAŞLIK İNCELEMESİ Çeşmeli, Işıl Doktora, Felsefe Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Prof. Dr. Ş. Halil Turan Ocak 2017, 213 sayfa İnsan doğası hakkında iki karşıt görüş olan ben-sevgisi ve duygudaşlık onsekizinci yüzyıl felsefe çevrelerinde önemli bir yer teşkil etmiştir. Thomas Hobbes’dan miras kalan birinci görüş Bernard de Mandeville tarafından hararetle savunulmuştur. Arıların Masalı’nda Mandeville, insan doğası, bireylerin ahlaki motivasyonu ve siyasetin yapısını açımlayarak toplumun ana dinamiklerini tasvir eder. Mandeville’in “kişisel erdemsizlikler kamusal faydalar” olarak bilinen ünlü düsturu, bencil insan doğası iddiası onsekizinci yüzyıl ahlak felsefecileri arasındaki kötü şöhretinin nedenidir. Adam Smith, Mandeville’in ahlaki egoizminin tersine, duygudaşlığı ahlaki yargıların temeline koyar ve Ahlaki Duygular Kuramı’nda (1759) insan doğasının özgeci karakterine dikkat çeker. Fakat Smith’in önceki eserinde tamamen Mandeville’den farklı bir kuram ortaya koymasına rağmen sonraki eseri Ulusların Zenginliği’nde (1776) insanoğlunun ana dürtüsünün ben-sevgisi olduğunu iddia etmesi oldukça şaşırtıcıdır. Bu vi çalışmada, Smith’in ahlak kuramı ve ekonomik sisteminde ben-sevgisinin rolü ve olası Mandeville etkileri tartışılacaktır. Mandeville ve Smith’in ahlak kuramları arasındaki farklılıklar ve Smith’in ahlaki egoizme karşı duruşundan yola çıkarak bu çalışma Smith’in sisteminin Mandeville’in sosyal kuramı ve ahlak sisteminin yeniden inşası olamayacağını göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışma ayrıca eserleri etraflıca incelendiğinde Smith’in duygudaşlık ve ben-sevgisini uzlaştırarak Mandeville’in ahlaki egoizminin üstesinden geldiğini göstermektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Ben-sevgisi, Duygudaşlık, Ahlaki egoizm, Erdem, Erdemsizlik vii To Memory of my Mother viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Şeref Halil Turan who introduced me Bernard de Mandeville and Scottish Enlightenment and encouraged me to carry out my doctoral research abroad. This dissertation would never have been possible without his endless support, guidance, advices and comments. I would also like to thank the Members of my Examining Committee Prof. Dr. Kurtuluş Dinçer, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Samet Bağçe, Prof. Dr. Ertuğrul Rufayi Turan and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış Parkan for their comments and suggestions. I am also grateful to Dr. Craig Smith for his hospitality, guidance and comments. He provided me with full support during my visit to University of Glasgow. Thanks are also due to my beloved friends Nil Avcı and Özlem Ünlü for their friendship and motivation. Whenever I needed them they were always there for me. Special thanks are also due to my husband Hakan Çeşmeli for his patience, encouragement and unconditional support. He made things easier for me at every stage of my dissertation. He always helped me to survive the hardship and never gave up believing in me. Finally, I would like to thank The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for its generous grant, 2214-A International Research Fellowship Programme for Doctoral Students, which provided me with an opportunity to carry out my doctoral research at University of Glasgow. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ................................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................... vi DEDICATION ............................................................................................................. viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 2. BERNARD MANDEVILLE ON HUMAN NATURE AND ORIGIN OF MORALITY ......................................................................................................... 9 2.1 The Dark Side of Human Nature ............................................................. 9 2.2 Mandeville’s Skilful Politicians .............................................................. 24 2.3 (Im)possibility of Virtue.......................................................................... 47 2.4 Mandeville on Human Sociability ......................................................... 54 2.5 Vicious Bees of the Prosperous Hive ..................................................... 61 2.6 Criticisms after The Fable of the Bees ........................................................ 71 3. FRANCIS HUTCHESON’S CRITICISM OF SELF-LOVE AND HIS THEORY OF MORAL SENSE ......................................................................... 90 3.1 Hutcheson’s Theory of Moral Sense in An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue .................................................................. 90 3.2 Hutcheson’s Attack on Hobbes and Mandeville in Thoughts on Laughter and Observations on the Fable of the Bees .................................... 94 x 4. DAVID HUME’S THEORY OF PASSIONS AND MECHANISM OF SYMPATHY IN A TREATISE OF HUMAN NATURE ................................. 103 4.1 Hume’s Theory of Passions ...................................................................... 103 4.2 The Origin of our Moral Distinctions ...................................................... 108 4.3 The Mechanism of Sympathy .................................................................. 111 5. ADAM SMITH’S THEORY OF SYMPATHY ............................................... 119 5.1 The Theory of Sympathy .......................................................................... 119 5.2 Mandeville’s Licentious System .............................................................. 133 5.3 Corruption of Our Moral Sentiments .....................................................
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