IASS 2025

Session

D.1 SESSION: APPLIED AND CONTEMPORARY ETHICS

28 Mar 2025, 15:50

ROOM 1

63. How Adam Smith’s Moral Theory Explains the Rise and Fall of ESG— and Provides a Responsible Way Forward

Douglas Stevens (Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University)

28/03/2025, 15:50

I discuss how Adam Smith’s moral theory explains the rise and fall of environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and corporate governance (ESG) as the gold standard for sustainable and responsible business practices. First, I explain how the rising popularity of ESG challenged the economic theory of the firm based on narrow self-interest and shareholder primacy. Second, I present...

60. Artificial Hearts: Can AI Fulfill Adam Smith's Vision of Friendship?

Thaís Alves Costa (Federal University of Pelotas / Unochapecó), Evandro Barbosa (Federal University of Pelotas)

28/03/2025, 16:20

This chapter explores the meaning of agency for artificial intelligence (AI) and raises questions about human-AI interaction, particularly focusing on social chatbots. Using Adam Smith's theory of sympathy as a framework, we explore how the absence of fundamental emotions like sympathy hampers machines' ability to understand and ethically respond to certain situations, thereby questioning...

32. Smith and the Moralistic Fallacy

Nir Ben-Moshe

28/03/2025, 16:50

What kind of endorsement is involved in a judgment that an emotion is an “appropriate” response to what it is about? In answering this question, Justin D’Arms and Daniel Jacobson (2000) warned moral philosophers not to conflate two distinct forms of endorsement or assessment: the moral propriety of an emotion on the one hand, and its fittingness (representational accuracy) on the other hand....