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For a good argument that this was not what Smith believed, I recommend Stephen Holmes'
chapter 2, "The Secret History of Self-Interest" in his book *Passions and Constraint*
Holmes argues that Smith, along with Hume and other figures in the Scottish Enlightenment
thinkers, rather than describing people as self-interested, were *recommending*  that
people become more self-interested, instead of  being motivated by the self-destructive
passions of  glory and honor-seeking, vengeance, religious fanaticism etc. Smith saw
commercial society as *desirable* precisely for its  potential for shifting motivations
towards the interests and away from the passions. (This parallels Hirschman's *Passions
and Interests*, but I find that undergraduates have lots of trouble with this book; Holmes
is much clearer).  If this is indeed Smith's view, then he would agree with Marx that
commercial society fosters self-interested behavior -- but they put it down on opposite
sides of the balance sheet!
 
Kevin Quinn 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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