Yeah this is a difference ("contradiction") between WoN and TMS. Commerce doesn't require sympathy... It's kind of the point for large-scale cooperation

denlillaapan

He built an entire moral philosophy on the idea that commerce requires sympathy between people.

Not quite. He also has the famous passage about how it's not out of kindness that the baker provides us our bread. The significance of market incentives is that they even turn selfish motives towards the betterment of others.

the_stacker_muse

BooksAndArticles

econ

Book Review, How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life, by Russ Roberts

> He built an entire moral philosophy on the idea that commerce requires sympathy between people.

Not quite. He also has the famous passage about how it's not out of kindness that the baker provides us our bread. The significance of market incentives is that they even turn selfish motives towards the betterment of others.