《道德情操论·卷二·论功劳与过失·一之五·功劳感与过失感的剖析》第5节
The inspired writers would not surely have talked so frequently or so strongly of the wrath and anger of God, if they had regarded every degree of those passions as vicious and evil, even in so weak and imperfect a creature as man.
注释摘要
斯密在脚注里替怨恨这种激情说了句公道话。他深知多数读者会反感他将过失感建立在怨恨之上，因为怨恨在世人眼中几乎是最可憎的激情，而谴责罪恶的道德判断通常被视作一种高贵的情感。于是，他搬出了一个在当时几乎不容反驳的论据：倘若每一种程度的愤怒都是邪恶的，那么获得神圣启示的圣经作者们就不会如此频繁、如此强烈地描述上帝的震怒。 这个论证是结构性的，而非单纯诉诸权威。斯…