The utilitarianism and the moral theory of Adam Smith

This article shows which is the role of utility in Adam Smith's first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, emphasizing the elements that distance him from utilitarianism, particularly in terms of moral justification. Because, even though the utilitarianism properly started with Jeremy Bentham and was systematized by John Stuart Mill in the XIX century, some have called Smith a proto- utilitarian. To do so, the concepts of sympathy - psychological and moral-and propriety will be explained and the arguments of T.D. Campbell and James Otteson, two experts on Smith who argue that he is to some extent a utilitarian, will be analyzed.