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

justice * 1.1, and with the justitia attributri•• of Grotius, which consists in proper benefi|cence, in the becoming use of what is our own, and in the applying it to those pur|poses either of charity or generosity, to which it is most suitable in our situation that it should be applied. In this sense justice com|prehends all the social virtues. There is yet another sense in which the word justice is sometimes taken, still more extensive than either of the former, tho' very much akin to the last; and which runs too, so far as I know, through all languages. It is in this last sense that we are said to be unjust, when we do not seem to value any particular object with that degree of esteem, or to pursue it with that degree of ardour which to the im|partial spectator it may appear to deserve or to be naturally fitted for exciting. Thus we are said to do injustice to a poem or a picture, when we do not admire them enough, and we are said to do them more than justice when we admire them too much. In the same manner we are said to do injustice to ourselves when we appear not to give sufficient atten|tion

Notes

* 1.1

The distributive justice of Aristotle is somewhat differe•••• It consists in the proper distribution of rewards from the pub|lick stock of a community. see Aristotle Ethic. Nic. l. 5. c. 2.

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Title: The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...
Author: Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.
Canvas: Page 424
Publication: London :: printed for A. Millar; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh,; 1759.

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Collection: Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo
Link to this Item: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/k111361.0001.001
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Full citation: "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 13, 2025.