Theory of Moral Sentiments and Adam Smith's Legacy in Contemporary Philosophy

This thesis deals with the theory of moral sentiments as put in Adam Smith's work. The thesis reflects the legacy of Adam Smith and enlightened sentimentalism as whole in field of contemporary philosophy and sociological science. Hence the thesis gives attention to misinterpretations of Smith's work, to his economical heritage with emphasis on Hayek's elaboration of the theory of spontaneous order (which has foundation in the notion of the "invisible hand") and also to his legacy in political philosophy. Here the thesis introduces particularly the debate on reflective autonomy, which is crucial for the lining of fundamental features of the disagreement between rationalistic and sentimentalistic account of the origin of morality, and tries to advocate the significance of sentimentalistic claims in todays society. The aim of this thesis is to convince the reader that the aspects of our mind, which the theory of moral sentiments and sentimentalism emphases and which are rather overlooked or devalued in todays world, are absolutely necessary in public debate