The Passionate Society: The Social, Political and Moral Thought of Adam Ferguson (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées)

Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) was a major figure of the Scottish Enlightenment whose thought was, in many respects, original and distinctive. This book is a study of his ideas and of the intellectual forces that shaped them. Though somewhat overlooked in the nineteenth century, Ferguson was rescued from obscurity in the first half of the twentieth century by scholars interested in the origins of sociology and early critiques of modernity. Ferguson’s interest in the mechanics of social life and especially social change led him to many groundbreaking insights. In fact, he is sometimes identified as the 'Father of Modern Sociology'. In addition to exploring whether or not he merits this title, this study examines the whole of Ferguson’s thought as a system and includes his moral and faculty psychology, historiography, theology, politics and social science. Ferguson is distinguished by his deep appreciation of the complexity of the human condition; his study of society is based on the belief that it is not only reason, but the unseen, unplanned, sub-rational and visceral forces that keep the human universe in motion. Ferguson’s appreciation of this fact, and his ability to make social science of it, is his major achievement. CONTENTS......Page 6 LEGEND......Page 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT......Page 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: THE PASSIONATE SOCIETY......Page 10 CHAPTER 2 READING FERGUSON......Page 38 CHAPTER 3 FERGUSON’S THEOLOGY/ONTOLOGY......Page 52 CHAPTER 4 METHOD AND HISTORIOGRAPHY......Page 66 CHAPTER 5 FERGUSON’S FACULTY AND MORAL PSYCHOLOGY......Page 84 CHAPTER 6 F ERGUSON’S “INVISIBLE HAND”......Page 109 CHAPTER 7 FERGUSON’S EARLY CONFLICT THEORY......Page 130 CHAPTER 8 HABIT......Page 146 CHAPTER 9 THE ENVIRONMENT......Page 155 CHAPTER 10 CORRUPTION AND PROBLEMS OF MODERNITY......Page 167 CHAPTER 11 PROGRESS AND DECLINE......Page 198 CHAPTER 12 FERGUSON’S CONSERVATISM......Page 219 CHAPTER 13 CONCLUSION......Page 236 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 240 INDEX......Page 273