Adam Ferguson and the Idea of Civil Society: Moral Science in the Scottish Enlightenment (Edinburgh Studies in Scottish Philosophy)

An introduction to the history of English morphology. Adam Ferguson, a friend of David Hume and Adam Smith, was among the leading Scottish Enlightenment figures who worked to develop a science of man. He created a methodology for moral science that combined empirically based social theory with normative moralising. He was among the first in the English-speaking world to make use of the terms civilization, civil society and political science. Craig Smith explores Ferguson's thought, and examines his attempt to develop a genuine moral science and its place in providing a secure basis for the virtuous education of the new elite of Hanoverian Britain. The Ferguson that emerges is far from the stereotyped image of a republican sceptical about commercial society and much closer to the mainstream of the Scottish Enlightenment and its defence of the new British commercial order Examines Adam Ferguson's philosophy, political theory and social thought in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment. Explores Ferguson's examines attempt to develop a genuine moral science that combined empirically based social theory with normative moralising. Presents a new, revisionary account of Ferguson: far from the stereotyped image of a republican sceptical about commercial society and much closer to the mainstream of the Scottish Enlightenment and its defence of the new British commercial order. Introduction -- Moral Science -- Moral Philosophy -- Moral Education -- Civil Society And Civilisation -- Civilised Warfare. Craig Smith. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 230-246) And Index.