Question

Every individual is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can command. It is his own advantage, indeed, and not that of the society which he has in view. But the study of his own advantage naturally leads him to prefer that employment which is most advantageous to the society.
Read the quotation by Adam Smith.

According to this quote, what motivates most individuals?

desire for power
concern for others
competition for jobs
sense of self-interest

Answer 1

Answer:

D: sense of self-interest

Explanation:

Edge 2020

Answer 2

Answer:

According to this quote, it is self-interest that most motivates individuals.

Explanation:

Adam Smith is a 18th-century philosopher of the Enlightenment period who is most well-known for his notion of the "invisible hand" of the market. He believed that the economic propensities of individuals were the best way upon which to organize society and that by nature human beings will do what most benefits them individually in economic terms and that this will lead to a better society overall rather than trying to impose unnatural conditions from above. The invisible hand is the concept that there can be social benefits from an individual's self-interested actions even if they are unintentional. This idea was introduced in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, written in 1759, where Smith is trying to explain the logic of income distribution.