Roberts and Klein observe that Smith's grammatical gendering is inconsistent—the impartial spectator is referred to as 'he' while the author of nature is sometimes 'she' yet elsewhere 'he' (creating man 'after his own image')—and that Smith largely wrote about and observed a world of men, with female sensibilities only occasionally referenced.

factualpending

Speaker

Dan Klein

Evidence Quote

There's very little sex-based differences in this book... a lot of it is male-oriented.

Source

Dan Klein on The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Episode 4--A Discussion of Part III 04/29/2009EconTalk
Created: 6/15/2026, 9:36:51 AM

My Notes

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