28 lines
946 B
Markdown
28 lines
946 B
Markdown
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# Benevolence
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## Definition
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The disposition to do good to others out of goodwill rather than self-interest.
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Smith argues that benevolence is an insufficient basis for economic organisation
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in a complex society. While a person may secure the friendship of a few through
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appeals to benevolence, they cannot rely on it to obtain the co-operation of
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the "great multitudes" they need in civilised life. Even beggars, who depend
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chiefly on benevolence for their subsistence, conduct most of their actual
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transactions through exchange.
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## Source Chapter
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Book I, Chapter 2: "Of the Principle which gives Occasion to the Division
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of Labour"
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## Context
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Benevolence serves as the foil to self-interest. Smith systematically argues
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that while benevolence exists, it cannot scale to support the complex
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interdependencies of a specialised economy, making self-interested exchange
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the necessary coordinating mechanism.
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## Economic Domain
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General Theory
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