Sympathy and propriety in Adam smith's rhetoric

Abstract

Adam Smith's moral sentimentalist concepts of “sympathy” and “propriety” provide the basis for his rhetorical principles: “perspicuity,” “description,” and the rhetorical critic as the “social self.” The latter ensure that aesthetically appropriate communication consists of the same elements as sympathetic communication—the presentation of character, emotion, and circumstance. Aesthetic propriety also eliminates the possibility of deceitful or unskilled communication resulting in incorrect moral judgment.