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Distant voices: Amartya Sen on Adam Smith’s Impartial Spectator
For Amartya Sen, Adam Smith’s notion of the impartial spectator is a device that brings “distant voices” into our moral deliberations in order to prevent us from the parochialism that can limit our views on particular issues. Whilst recognising its importance, this article suggests that there are so...
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2012
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/15650 |
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| author | Ian Fraser |
| author_facet | Ian Fraser |
| author_sort | Ian Fraser (1249335) |
| collection | Figshare |
| description | For Amartya Sen, Adam Smith’s notion of the impartial spectator is a device that brings “distant voices” into our moral deliberations in order to prevent us from the parochialism that can limit our views on particular issues. Whilst recognising its importance, this article suggests that there are some problems with the way Sen uses this in his The Idea of Justice. Tensions arise around issues relating to his interpretation of Smith, a one-sided and undialectical understanding of the operation of the impartial spectator, an ambivalence in Sen’s approach between essentialism and cultural relativism, the capacity for people to carry out the demands of the impartial spectator and its efficacy in relation to real moral problems such as Smith’s case of infanticide. The conclusion is that in the search for openness, Sen leaves his idea of justice with insufficient grounding to forge a dialogue that can act as a challenge to entrenched beliefs rather than simply accept them in a limbo of fragile co-existence. |
| format | Default Article |
| id | rr-article-9469211 |
| institution | Loughborough University |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| record_format | Figshare |
| spelling | rr-article-94692112012-01-01T00:00:00Z Distant voices: Amartya Sen on Adam Smith’s Impartial Spectator Ian Fraser (1249335) Political science not elsewhere classified untagged Political Science not elsewhere classified For Amartya Sen, Adam Smith’s notion of the impartial spectator is a device that brings “distant voices” into our moral deliberations in order to prevent us from the parochialism that can limit our views on particular issues. Whilst recognising its importance, this article suggests that there are some problems with the way Sen uses this in his The Idea of Justice. Tensions arise around issues relating to his interpretation of Smith, a one-sided and undialectical understanding of the operation of the impartial spectator, an ambivalence in Sen’s approach between essentialism and cultural relativism, the capacity for people to carry out the demands of the impartial spectator and its efficacy in relation to real moral problems such as Smith’s case of infanticide. The conclusion is that in the search for openness, Sen leaves his idea of justice with insufficient grounding to forge a dialogue that can act as a challenge to entrenched beliefs rather than simply accept them in a limbo of fragile co-existence. 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/15650 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Distant_voices_Amartya_Sen_on_Adam_Smith_s_Impartial_Spectator/9469211 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Political science not elsewhere classified untagged Political Science not elsewhere classified Ian Fraser Distant voices: Amartya Sen on Adam Smith’s Impartial Spectator |
| title | Distant voices: Amartya Sen on Adam Smith’s Impartial Spectator |
| title_full | Distant voices: Amartya Sen on Adam Smith’s Impartial Spectator |
| title_fullStr | Distant voices: Amartya Sen on Adam Smith’s Impartial Spectator |
| title_full_unstemmed | Distant voices: Amartya Sen on Adam Smith’s Impartial Spectator |
| title_short | Distant voices: Amartya Sen on Adam Smith’s Impartial Spectator |
| title_sort | distant voices: amartya sen on adam smith’s impartial spectator |
| topic | Political science not elsewhere classified untagged Political Science not elsewhere classified |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/15650 |