《道德情操论·卷六·论德性的品质·二之二·论天性推荐给我们行善的社会次序》第1节
THE same principles that direct the order in which individuals are recommended to our beneficence, direct that likewise in which societies {202} are recommended to it. Those to which it is, or may be of most importance, are first and principally recommended to it.
注释摘要
本节开头是一块简洁的合页：将前一章讨论个人行善次序的原则，直接平移至社会与国家层面。斯密在此完成从微观道德心理学向宏观政治情感的过渡，用的是同一条原理——我们推荐给仁爱的对象，其顺序由重要性决定；最重要的对象最先被推荐。所谓importance，在他这里并非抽象价值判断，而是指该对象对我们福祉的实际影响程度：一个社会对我们的幸福或不幸影响越大，它在我们的情…