Super Short Summary

In The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith explores the nature of human morality through the concepts of sympathy and the impartial spectator, suggesting that our moral judgments arise from observing others and imagining how an objective observer would perceive our actions. He reconciles the 18th-century ideas of benevolence and self-interest by integrating them within a divine framework, leading to his later economic theories in The Wealth of Nations.