Philosophy of History, Morality and Human Beings

For Smith, the historical process is indispensable for understanding in what sense and to what extent we can speak of harmony between the individual self and others. Indeed, the historical process is not only a driving cause of self-development in terms of the differentiation of the individual self of each human being in society, but it also influences the nature of the relationships that human beings have with each other. Starting from these premises, this chapter describes in what sense Smith’s understanding of human beings would be based on an idea of harmony between oneself and others that depends on the historical process. Therefore, I outline in what sense it would be possible to speak of a relationship between historical context, moral conduct and human nature in Smith’s conception of the human being. In particular, after outlining some features of Smith’s philosophy of history, I explore one of the main features of Smith’s philosophical anthropology through an examination of the figure of the savage. In doing so, I provide an example of how the development of the self would be linked to the satisfaction of a desiderative human nature of the human being depending on the historical and social context.