Prompt: How we react to wealth and poverty
“Bellringers” are classroom tools that help set the tone or introduce a topic in the classroom. Adam Smith Works bellringers use quotations from and activities based on the work of Adam Smith, allowing you to illustrate the long history of the ideas you will explore in your classroom by grounding them in great books.
Adam Smith Works Prompts are short quotations that you can discuss with your students to set the tone for your lesson. They cover topics from economics to history to moral philosophy.
Bellringers are presented as slides ready to pull and use in your classroom. On each slide, you can find speaking notes and links to more information.
Adam Smith Works Prompts are short quotations that you can discuss with your students to set the tone for your lesson. They cover topics from economics to history to moral philosophy.
Bellringers are presented as slides ready to pull and use in your classroom. On each slide, you can find speaking notes and links to more information.
- Click the hyperlinked quotation (for example, look for something like (WN 1.ii.2) to see the quotation in the context of the full text.
- Use the "Find" feature in the left-hand menu to search for the first few words in the quotation and see it in context.
- Alternatively, click on "Contents" to find the relevant chapter of the text. "WN 1.ii" is Wealth of Nations Book 1, chapter 2. "TMS I.iii.1" is The Theory of Moral Sentiments Book 1, chapter 3, section 1.
(The last number in the citation refers to the paragraph in the section.)
- Where available, click "Click here for more about this quotation" to visit a short article about the passage in question.
- Speaking notes suggest topics for discussion when using each quotation.
“This disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect persons of poor and mean condition, though necessary both to establish and to maintain the distinction of ranks and the order of society, is, at the same time, the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments.” (TMS I.iii.3.1)
This quotation can inspire a discussion about how people react to wealth, power, and poverty and whether this is good, bad, or some mix of the two. Students should discuss the effects of wealth, power, and poverty on individuals and on society as a whole.
Is people's reaction to fame similar to the reaction described to wealth and power in this paragraph?
Do you think the reaction of rich and powerful people to ordinary people is different from the reaction of ordinary people to people who are poor? If not, why not? If yes, how is it different? Should it be different?
See the quotation in context as part of the full online text of The Theory of Moral Sentiments here. Use the "Find" feature in the left-hand menu to search for the first few words in the quotation and see it in context.
Read more about this quotation at the OLL Entry. You may choose to share this piece with your students following their discussion. Do they agree or disagree with the explanation provided?