In discussing effective means of regulating the sentiments and the behavior associated with them, Adam Smith emphasized the importance of conversation:

This emphasis on the importance of conversation fits in well with Smith's account of the moral development of children, especially insofar as it focuses on the socialization of children outside the immediate confines of the home. Smith does not provide details of how moral conversation among children might go. However, this chapter offers an extended sample from conversations I have had with a group of students with whom I had a number of meetings beginning when they were 10-to 11-year-old 5th graders.

I met weekly with this group some years ago in an after-school program during the regular school year. For our last session, we discussed ideas related to reciprocity. Although the word “reciprocity” was not used in that conversation (or in any of our previous ones), it was the basic notion under consideration in this final session.

In one guise or another, reciprocity is commonly regarded to be a fundamental moral value. For example, it is a pivotal notion moral and religious traditions that invoke some form of the Golden Rule. In the case of Thomas Reid, some understanding and acceptance of reciprocity is a necessary condition for being a moral agent. It is also at the heart of Adam Smith's notion of an “impartial spectator.” Reciprocity can take on many forms. For example, in social relations reciprocity might be understood generally as “returning in kind.” But this could include concerns as various as a fair exchange of goods, paying one's debts, returning favors, wanting to “get even,” or trying to teach someone a lesson.

Sessions with my group of 5th graders typically began with a reading and discussion of short passages from Matthew Lipman's Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery and further ideas to which this gave rise. However, often we were still in the heat of discussion when it was time for a session to conclude.