Ferguson: An Essay on the History of Civil Society

A subtle critique of declining communal virtues, arguing instead for active citizenship.

Adam Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society is a classic of the Scottish, and European, Enlightenment. Ferguson combines a subtle analysis of modern society with a critique of its abandonment of communal virtues, and boldly attempts to reclaim the tradition of active citizenship in the modern state.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. Ferguson combines a subtle analysis of the emergence of modern commercial society with a critique of its abandonment of civic and communal virtues. Central to Ferguson's theory of citizenship are the themes of conflict, play, political participation and military valour. The Essay is a bold and novel attempt to reclaim the tradition of active, virtuous citizenship and apply it to the modern state.