论经济学的道德中性与经济学家的道德关怀——亚当·斯密《道德情操论》和"斯密悖论"

亚当·斯密一生中写过两部重要著作,一是《国富论》,二是《道德情操论》,前者奠定了现代经济学的根基,后者成为道德哲学史上不朽的经典之作,而前书中利己主义的人性假设和后书中人类同情心的人性假设历来被视为斯密经济哲学和道德哲学中互为矛盾的悖论。本文从经济学的价值判断出发,探讨了经济学的道德中立姿态和经济学家的道德关怀问题,剖析道德研究在经济学中的科学定位,并进而由对《道德情操论》中四个关键词的梳理,从斯密自身的逻辑阐释了长期纠结学界的所谓"斯密问题",从而达成了斯密体系中两种看似相悖的人性假设的和谐统一,完成由"自我赞同"向"社会赞同"的过渡。

Moral Neutrality of Economics and Moral Solicitude of Economists: Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments and"Smith Paradox"

Adam Smith has two important works, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The former had laid a foundation for modern economics, while the later became an immortal classic in the history of moral philosophy. The hypothesis of egoist human nature in the former and the hypothesis of sympathetic human nature in the latter have been considered as a paradox, which is contradictory between Smith s philosophy of economy and his philosophy of ethics. Starting from economical value judgment, this article probes a moral neutrality of economics and the moral solicitude of economists, gives an anatomy to the scientific position of moral studies in economics. By further organizing of the four key words in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, the author elucidates from Smith s own logic the so-called Smith mishap which entangles the scholars for quite a long time. As a result, a harmonic unity of the two seemingly paradoxical hypotheses in Smith s system has been reached, and a transitory from self-agreement to social agreement has been completed.