IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cpo/journl/y2005i49p19-31.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Individual and Self-Interest in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations

Author

Listed:
  • Stefano FIORI

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to describe the concept of self-interest and show how it relates to the idea of the individual as an economic agent, focusing only on Smith's Wealth of Nations. Self-interest is analysed from three different perspectives that highlight its conceptual complexity. The implication of the analysis is that modification must be made to the view that self-interest is a homogeneous and transparent principle, able to guide individuals' actions, and characterized by a set of features commonly shared by the majority.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano FIORI, 2005. "Individual and Self-Interest in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations," Cahiers d’économie politique / Papers in Political Economy, L'Harmattan, issue 49, pages 19-31.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpo:journl:y:2005:i:49:p:19-31
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cairn.info/acheter_article.php?ID_ARTICLE=CEP_049_0019
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B12 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Classical (includes Adam Smith)
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpo:journl:y:2005:i:49:p:19-31. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Carlos Andrés Vasco Correa (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.cahiersdecopo.fr/fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.