Moral Sentiments Essay Example for Free

Moral Sentiments Essay Pursuit of wealth is a necessity for a proper and well standard life in today’s world. Wealth is an essential commodity today and one has to have it for a respectable living and that is why people are in a run to achieve it not matter the opportunity cost. The main question is that is money always worth all the opportunity cost and is its achievement at all cost a right or wrong thing? These are the basic points that I will be discussing in my paper below with respect to my opinion of the poor man’s son situation, as described by Smith in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, that he was not mistaken in setting out on the path of wealth acquisition and further on I would discuss what I would have done if I was in the same situation. . There is no doubt to the fact that wealth is necessary for a comfortable living. Wealth improves the quality of life by providing a person with the luxuries he carves for and with the satisfaction of these cravings comes utility which in result makes a person feel good. There is more to life than living in a budgeted amount every month and feeling content with whatever is within ones limited achieving power. Life is about exploring new horizons, about enjoying it to its fullest and in today’s world all of this cannot be achieved without money. It provides a person with a sense of peace because with money comes power to achieve every material thing possible. Lack of money do not makes one life hassle free or tranquil but instead provides one with the tension to achieve even the basic necessities of life which now are not available without money. Hard work is necessary to achieve great things in life, laid back attitude do not take a person anywhere. High achievers do not let fate decide for them but work hard enough to have their fate in their own hand so pressuring oneself to achieve more in life and test one limits is actually the correct way to life live as per me. While it cannot be denied that more utility comes from enjoying the beauty of a garden then seeing a machine work as Smith explained in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, but it can also not be ignored that with the power to buy or have things one need which comes with the expenditure of money also provides a different sense of utility to a person. So I don’t think that the poor man’s son did anything wrong in working hard to fulfill his wants and dreams and instead of being critical of him one should appreciated him for fulfilling his dreams in the right manner, he at least did not cheat or lie his way to achieve what he wanted. I would have done the same had I been in his position. I would have also worked my way to achieve money if I had wanted it. But I would not have done that at the expense of that happiness in life which comes naturally along the way and have nothing to do with the amount of money one possess like enjoying a friend birthday treat, having time to enjoy the beautiful scenic beauty around me etc. I would have maintained the level of balance in my life with my priorities set in a proper order and money would be one of my priorities but not the top most priority. So I support the poor man son’s in his struggle to achieve what he wanted to achieve and his hard work is commendable but I think that he should have made money the only motive of his life and instead had enjoyed things coming in his life along the way because thirst for money can never be quenched so one should know the limit to have it if one want a peaceful n emotionally n spiritually better life. Reference: Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. N. p. : n. p. , 1759. Print.