Question

According to Amartya Sen, one of the reasons we should not over employee Adam Smith's emphasis on self-interest in the Butcher-Brewer-Baker simplicity, is Adam Smith's appointment as the Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow.

A. True
B. False

Answer 1

A) True

Step-by-step explanation:

"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love." (Adam Smith)

According to Adam Smith, everyone acts upon self-interest, and that is all it takes to run a successful business. But Adam Smith taking the job of a Professor at the University of Glasgow contradicts his own proposition. Why should someone teach at a university when they could be making much more money working somewhere else. Smith was not like old artists that became famous only after dying, he was famous while being alive and taking a relatively low paying job was not on his best self-interest.