Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo

The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...

exactness every external action which it requires. This virtue is justice. The rules of justice are accurate in the highest degree, and admit of no exceptions or modifications, but such as may be ascer|tained as accurately as the rules them|selves, and which generally, indeed, flow from the very same principles with them. If I owe a man ten pounds, justice requires that I should precisely pay him ten pounds, either at the time agreed upon, or when he demands it. What I ought to per|form, how much I ought to perform, when and where I ought to perform it, the whole nature and circumstances of the action prescribed, are all of them pre|cisely fixt and determined. Tho' it may be aukward and pedantic, therefore, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 affect too strict an adherence to the com|mon rules of prudence or generosity, there is no pedantry in sticking fast by the rule•• of justice. On the contrary, the most sacred regard is due to them; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 actions which this virtue requires are ne|ver so properly performed, as when the chief motive for performing them is a re|verential and religious regard to thos••
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Title
The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...
Author
Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.
Canvas
Page 308
Publication
London :: printed for A. Millar; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh,
1759.

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"The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ..." In the digital collection Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/k111361.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 12, 2025.
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