Sur quelques discussions avec Pierre Dockès autour de l’intérêt chez Adam Smith et Thomas Hobbes

Coming back to a discussion with P. Dockès, this study shows that two different conceptions about the individual interest are developed by the economists. The first, that of A. Smith, clarifies the interest with the help of sympathy. The second, which concerns largely economics after Smith, gives it a dark slope (dismal science) ; initiated with T. Hobbes, we find it in the theories of the homo oeconomicus. A possibility of rebuilding economics would be possible using the assumption of empathy which has an indisputable neurological base today.