这是一部划时代的伦理学巨著，首次出版于1759年，斯密去世前共出版过六次。该书阐明具有利己主义本性的个人是怎样控制其感情或行为，尤其是自私的感情或行为，以及如何建立一个确定行为准则的社会。在该书中，亚当·斯密对人类丰富多彩的道德情操世界做了简明扼要的说明。

The Theory of Moral Sentiments，中文译名为《道德情操论》，它由英国著名古典政治经济学家、现代西方经济学之父、哲学家亚当·斯密编著。这是一部划时代的巨著，是古典经济学的哲学基础。全书共有七卷，主要阐释道德情感的本质和道德评价的性质。书中列举了支配人类行为的各种动机，包括自爱、同情心、追求自由的欲望、正义感、劳动习惯和交换倾向等，认为一个人的同情心与思维构造是形成其独特的道德情操、道德判断及美德的基础；阐述了人本性中所有的同情的情感是形成其道德取向的基础，是人类正义感和其他一切道德情感的形成根源，由此说明道德评价的性质，以此为基础表明各种基本美德的特征，并向世人强调：道德和正义对于社会乃至市场经济的运行是非常重要的。

无论是作为哲学和经济学等专业的经典读本，还是作为语言学习的课外读物，本书对当代中国读者，特别是对哲学和经济学等相关专业学习的大学生和从事研究工作的学者都将产生积极的影响。为了使读者能够了解每个论述主题的主要内容，进而提高阅读速度和阅读水平，在每个主题的开始部分增加了中文导读。

第一卷 论行为的适宜性/

Part One Of the Propriety of Action

第一篇 论适宜性/

SectionⅠ Of the Sense of Propriety 2

第一章 论同情/

Chapter 1 Of Sympathy 3

第二章 论相互同情的快乐/

Chapter 2 Of the Pleasure of mutual Sympathy 10

第三章 论比较他人的感情与我们的感情是否一致来判断他

人感情是否适宜的方式/

Chapter 3 Of the manner in which we judge of the propriety

or impropriety of the Affections of other Men, by their

concord or dissonance with our own 14

第四章 续前章/

Chapter 4 The same subject continued 19

第五章 论亲切的和值得尊敬的美德/

Chapter 5 Of the amiable and respectable virtues 26

第二篇 论各种适宜的激情程度/

Section Ⅱ Of the Degrees of the different Passions which are

consistent with Propriety 31

引言/

Introduction 32

第一章 论源于身体的激情/

Chapter 1 Of the Passions which take their origin from the body 34

第二章 论源于某种特殊倾向或想象习惯的激情/

Chapter 2 Of those Passions which take their origin from a particular

turn or habit of the Imagination 40

第三章 论不友好的激情/

Chapter 3 Of the unsocial Passions 45

第四章 论友好的激情/

Chapter 4 Of the social Passions 52

第五章 论自私的激情/

Chapter 5 Of the selfish Passions 55

第三篇 论繁荣和灾祸对人们判断行为是否适宜所产生的影响；

以及为什么在一种情形下比在另一种情况下更容易获

得人们的认可/

Section Ⅲ Of the Effects of Prosperity and Adversity upon the

Judgment of Mankind with regard to the Propriety

of Action; and why it is more easy to obtain their

Approbation in the one state than in the other 60

第一章 虽然我们对悲伤的同情一般比对快乐的同情更为强烈，

但是它通常远没有主要当事人自然感受到的强烈/

Chapter 1 That though our sympathy with sorrow is generally

a more lively sensation than our sympathy with joy,

it commonly falls much more short of the violence of

what is naturally felt by the person principally concerned 61

第二章 论野心的起源和社会阶层的区别/

Chapter 2 Of the origin of Ambition,

and of the distinction of Ranks 70

第三章 论源于钦佩富人和大人物、轻视或忽视穷人和

小人物的道德情操败坏/

Chapter 3 Of the corruption of our moral sentiments, which is

occasioned by this disposition to admire the rich and

the great, and to despise or neglect persons of poor and

mean condition 83

第二卷 论优、缺点；报答与惩处的对象/

Part Two Of Merit and Demerit; or of the Objects of Reward and Punishment

第一篇 论对优点和缺点的感觉/

Section Ⅰ Of the Sense of Merit and Demerit 92

引言/

Introduction 93

第一章 任何适宜的感激对象的行为显然应该得到报答；同样，

任何适宜的愤恨对象的行为显然应该受到惩罚 95

Chapter 1 That whatever appears to be the proper object of

gratitude appears to deserve reward; and that, in the

same manner, whatever appears to be the proper object

of resentment, appears to deserve punishment 95

第二章 论适当的感激对象和适当的愤恨对象/

Chapter 2 Of the proper objects of gratitude and resentment 99

第三章 不认可施恩者的行为，就几乎不会同情受益者的感激；

相反，对损人者的动机表示认同，对受难者的愤恨就

不会有一点同情/

Chapter 3 That where there is no approbation of the conduct of

the person who confers the benefit, there is little sympathy

with the gratitude of him who receives it: and that, on the

contrary, where there is no disapprobation of the motives of

the person who does the mischief, there is no sort of

sympathy with the resentment of him who suffers it 103

第四章 对前几章的概括/

Chapter 4 Recapitulation of the foregoing chapters 106

第五章 对优点和缺点感觉的分析/

Chapter 5 The analysis of the sense of Merit and Demerit 108

第二篇 论正义和仁慈/

Section two Of Justice and Beneficence 115

第一章 两种美德的比较/

Chapter 1 Comparison of those two virtues 116

第二章 论对正义、懊悔的感觉，兼论对优点的意识/

Chapter 2 Of the sense of Justice, of Remorse, and of the

consciousness of Merit 122

第三章 论这种天性构成的效用/

Chapter 3 Of the utility of this constitution of Nature 127

第三篇 关于行为的优点或缺点，论命运对人类情感的影响

Section Ⅲ Of the Influence of Fortune upon the Sentiments of

Mankind, with regard to the Merit or Demerit

of Actions 136

引言/

Introduction 137

第一章 论这种命运产生影响的原因/

Chapter 1 Of the causes of this Influence of Fortune 140

第二章 论这种命运产生影响的程度/

Chapter 2 Of the extent of this Influence of Fortune 145

第三章 论这种无规律情感变化的最终原因/

Chapter 3 Of the final cause of this Irregularity of Sentiments 155

第三卷 论评判自己的情感和行为的基础，兼论责任感/

Part Three Of the Foundation of our Judgments concerning our own Sentiments and Conduct, and of the Sense of Duty

第一章 论自我认同和不认同的原则/

Chapter 1 Of the Principle of Self-approbation and

of Self-disapprobation 162

第二章 论对赞扬和值得赞扬的喜欢；兼论对责备和

该受责备的恐惧/

Chapter 2 Of the love of Praise, and of that of Praise-worthiness;

and of the dread of Blame, and of that of

Blame-worthiness 167

第三章 论良心的威信和影响/

Chapter 3 Of the Influence and Authority of Conscience 190

第四章 论自欺欺人的本性，兼论一般准则的起源和用途/

Chapter 4 Of the Nature of Self-deceit, and of the origin and

Use of general Rules 217

第五章 论道德的通常规则的影响和威信，以及它们被公正

地看作神的法则/

Chapter 5 Of the influence and authority of the general Rules of

Morality, and that they are justly regarded as the Laws

of the Deity 224

第六章 在何种情况下，责任感应该成为人们行为的

唯一准则；在何种情况下，它应该同

其他动机一起发生作用/

Chapter 6 In what cases the Sense of Duty ought to be

the sole principle of our conduct; and in what

cases it ought to concur with other motives 237

第四卷 论效用对认同情感的作用/

Part Four Of the Effect of Utility upon the Sentiment of Approbation

第一章 论效用的表现赋予所有艺术作品的美，兼论这种

美所具有的广泛影响 250

Chapter 1 Of the beauty which the appearance of Utility bestows

upon all the productions of Art, and of the extensive

influence of this species of Beauty 250

第二章 论效用的表现赋予人的行为和品格的美，以及关于

这种美的概念可能在何种程度上被看成一种原始的

认同原则 261

Chapter 2 Of the beauty which the appearance of Utility bestows

upon the characters and actions of men; and how far the

perception of this beauty may be regarded as one of the

original principles of approbation 261

  第五卷 习惯和风气对认同的与不认同的道德情操的影响/

Part Five Of the Influence of Custom and Fashion upon the

Sentiments of Moral Approbation and Disapprobation

第一章 论习惯和风气施加于人们对美和丑看法的影响/

Chapter 1 Of the Influence of Custom and Fashion upon

our notions of Beauty and Deformity 272

第二章 论习惯和风气对道德情感的影响/

Chapter 2 Of the Influence of Custom and Fashion upon

Moral Sentiments 281

第六卷 论美德的品格/

Part Six Of the Character of Virtue

引言/

Introduction 298

第一篇 论个人的品格，就它对其幸福的影响而言；或论谨慎/

SECTION Ⅰ Of the Character of the Individual, so far as it

affects his own Happiness; or of Prudence 299

第二篇 论个人的品格，就它对其他人幸福的影响/

SECTION Ⅱ Of the Character of the Individual, so far as it

can affect the Happiness of other People 308

引言/

Introduction 309

第一章 论天性致使个人成为我们关心和注意的对象

所依据的次序/

Chapter 1 Of the Order in which Individuals are recommended

by Nature to our Care and Attention 311

第二章 论天性使社会团体成为人们行善对象的次序/

Chapter 2 Of the Order in which societies are by Nature

recommended to our Beneficence 324

第三章 论世界性的行善/

Chapter 3 Of universal Benevolence 334

第三篇 论自我支配/

SECTION Ⅲ Of Self-command 338

第六卷的结论/

Conclusion of the Sixth Part 371

第七卷 论道德的哲学体系/

Part Seven Of Systems of Moral Philosophy

第一篇 论应当在道德情感理论中考虑的问题/

SECTION Ⅰ Of the Questions which ought to be

examined in a Theory of Moral Sentiments 376

第二篇 论已对美德的本质做出的各种说明/

SECTION Ⅱ Of the different Accounts which have been

given of the Nature of Virtue 379

引言/

Introduction 380

第一章 论认为美德存在于适宜性之中的那些体系/

Chapter 1 Of those Systems which make Virtue

consist in Propriety 382

第二章 论认为美德存在于谨慎之中的那些体系/

Chapter 2 Of those Systems which make Virtue

consist in Prudence 413

第三章 论认为美德存在于善行之中的那些体系/

Chapter 3 Of those Systems which make Virtue consist in Benevolence 421

第四章 论放肆的体系/

Chapter 4 Of licentious Systems 430

第三篇 论已经形成的有关认同原则的各种体系/

SECTION Ⅲ Of the different Systems which have been

formed concerning the Principle of

Approbation 441

引言/

Introduction 442

第一章 论从自爱推断出认同原则的那些体系/

Chapter 1 Of those Systems which deduce the Principle of

Approbation from self-love 444

第二章 论把理性看成认同原则的根源的那些体系/

Chapter 2 Of those Systems which make Reason the Principle of

Approbation 448

第三章 论把情感看成认同原则的根源的那些体系/

Chapter 3 Of those Systems which make Sentiment the

Principle of Approbation 453

第四篇 论不同的作者论述道德实践规则的方式/

SECTION Ⅳ Of the Manner in which different Authors have

treated of the practical Rules of Morality 462