[cwyers]

I mean, when Adam Smith says "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest," he's not saying that in support of self-interest, he's saying that in support of OUR DINNER. The point of capitalism as economic system is not that self-interest is inherently good but that self-interest can be yoked to "some social-utilitarian purpose."

Of course, Adam Smith's opinion of corporations was "The directors of such [joint-stock] companies, however, being the managers rather of other people’s money than of their own, it cannot well be expected, that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance with which the partners in a private copartnery frequently watch over their own," and he thought they'd all die out unless they were propped up like the East India Company, so it's not like the Wealth of Nations is much of a guide to what we call capitalism nowadays. But still.

[sbuttgereit]

Adam Smith was wrong with the regard to the moral case for capitalism. He rightfully recognized why people acted, but he failed to recognize any substantive moral basis is such self interested actions; instead he resorted to the precise premise that the post I originally responded to pre-supposed. That argument must fail because one cannot act with self-interest AND altruistic interest consistently. The capitalist must always fail on these terms as there is always someone with a perceived greater need, and perceived greater right, to the capital of the capitalist.

If you consider first and foremost your own happiness and life as a moral value worthy of pursuit, you loose the hang-ups that Adam Smith had with capitalism. There's a whole separate discussion that goes down that path about what constitutes self-interest in the large (and no, defrauding innocents is not your best interests); but that's a bit out of scope to what the original poster stated.

[philwelch]

I think the Ayn Rand viewpoint--that self-interest is intrinsically a moral good and that capitalism is justified by this moral good--is not very widely held as a justification for capitalism.

[eropple]

I think modern American political discourse makes this a harder position to take. Which is not to say it's correct, because it's transparently not, but selfishness-as-Godliness is a firm part of the American right wing, self-styled libertarians included.

Greed's been good since the eighties, didn't you get the memo? =(

[kijin]

Well, modern states do "prop up" corporations with all sorts of perks, such as limited liability and tax benefits. So Adam Smith might not have been altogether wrong about that. How many of us would even consider incorporating if the law did not guarantee limited liability?

[threatofrain]

The discussion on that concept of "rationality" has also moved far beyond that, such as with Daniel Kahneman's two-system theory.