CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: ADAM SMITH'S THEORY OF SENTIMENTAL LAW AND ECONOMICS. Issue 2 (19th June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Paganelli, Maria Pia; Simon, Fabrizio
• Is Part Of: Journal of the history of economic thought. Volume 44:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 268
• Page End: 287
• Publication Date: 2022-06-19
• Subjects: Economics -- History -- Periodicals; 330.05
• DOI: 10.1017/S1053837220000437
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1053-8372

Abstract

Abstract : For Adam Smith, a crime is not the result of a rational calculation of loss and gain but the consequence of envy and a vain desire to parade wealth to attract the approbation of others, combined with a natural systematic bias in overestimating the probability of success. Similarly, Smith does not conceive of legal sanctions as a rational deterrent but as deriving from the feeling of resentment. While the prevailing approach of the eighteenth century is a rational explanation of crime and a utilitarian use of punishment, Adam Smith instead builds his theory of criminal behavior and legal prosecution consistently on the sentiments. A well-functioning legal system is thus an unintended consequence of our desire to bring justice to the individual person, not the result of a rational calculation to promote the public good, just like a well-functioning economic system is the unintended consequence of our desire to better our own condition, not the result of a rational calculation to promote public good.