Adam Smith’s Beholderism Redux
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Daniel Klein is professor of economics and JIN Chair at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and chief editor of Econ Journal Wat…
Jeffrey Young is Emeritus Professor of Economics at St. Lawrence University and a part time Lecturer in the School of Business at Gordon Col…
Abstract
In our 2025 article, we (along with coauthor Nicholas Swanson) exposited Adam Smith’s beholderism and criticized authors for flattening “impartial spectator” such that its meanings rise no higher than the conscience. Professor Jack Russell Weinstein generously replied to our critique. Here we respond to Weinstein and, using a new diagram, further elaborate on paragraph 215.11 of Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments.