An essay on the history of civil society: Ferguson, Adam.
His Essay on the History of Civil Society (first published in 1767) is a bold and novel attempt to reclaim the tradition of active citizenship and apply it to the modern state. Drawing on such diverse sources as classical authors and contemporary travel literature, Ferguson offers a Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) was one of the central figures in the Scottish Enlightenment.Adam Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society (first published in 1767) is a classic of the Scottish - and European - Enlightenment. Drawing on such diverse sources as classical authors and contemporary travel literature, Ferguson offers a complex model of historical advance which challenges both Hume's and Smith's embrace of modernity and the primitivism of Rousseau.On one level, it is hard for states to foster civil society. “, “Why should some human beings have more basic rights than others. An Essay on the History of Civil Society. ( 11) Agreeing with the link between capitalism and civil society, Marx held that the latter represents the interests of the bourgeoisie.
The work for which Ferguson is best-known, both in his own time and ours, is his An Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767). The book is largely what its title implies: In typical Scottish style, the author traces a sort of moral history of humankind, structured within the four-stage framework of social development that was fashionable at the time.An Essay on the History of Civil Society: Human Action and Human Design. Social order is often the unintended consequence of many people’s actions, rather than the intentional design of one person.
Page 39 - Without the rivalship of nations, and the practice of war, civil society itself could scarcely have found an object, or a form. Mankind might have traded without any formal convention, but they cannot be safe without a national concert.
