Methodological Remarks

This chapter describes how the research was conducted, the level of analysis adopted and clarifies the use of some of the main terms used throughout the book. In particular, on the one hand, I reconstruct some concepts such as human nature, mind and the self on the basis of the main philosophical traditions with which Smith has been compared in terms of similarities and differences; on the other hand, I describe the arguments at the basis of Smith’s development of these concepts in the different levels of analysis of his inquiry. At the same time, my research has a theoretical approach insofar as I problematise some concepts such as human nature, mind and the self by providing a coherent synthesis of the various uses of the terms. Moreover, I pay explicit attention to Smith’s style in analysing his thought: a style that combines analytical precision, abstract definitions, but with the description of particular and concrete cases. Finally, I offer Smith’s articulation of the concept of ‘human being’ and its thematic contexts.