Ferguson : An Essay on the History of Civil Society - Adam Ferguson

Ferguson

An Essay on the History of Civil Society

By: Adam Ferguson, Ferguson Adam, Fania Oz-Salzberger (Editor)

Paperback | 2 January 1996

At a Glance

Paperback


Limited Stock Available

RRP $63.75

$51.50

19%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $12.88 with

 or 
In Stock and Aims to ship in 1-2 business days
Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) was one of the central figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. 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 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. His fascination with the theory of unintended consequences as a model of historical causality does not deter him from insisting on the irreplaceable value of individual, public-minded members of political society.

About the Author

Fania Oz-Salzberger is Professor of History at the University of Haifa and director of the Posen Forum for Political Thought at the Faculty of Law. She has authored books and articles on the history of political thought.

Other Editions and Formats

Hardcover

Published: 2nd January 1996

More in History Higher Education Textbooks

Night : Penguin Modern Classics - Elie Wiesel

RRP $22.99

$17.75

23%
OFF
The Journals of Captain Cook : Penguin Classics - James Cook
The Histories : Penguin Classics - Herodotus

RRP $24.99

$18.95

24%
OFF
The Epic of Gilgamesh : Penguin Classics - Andrew George

RRP $22.99

$17.75

23%
OFF
The Complete Maus : A Survivor's Tale : 1st Edition - Art Spiegelman
Sapiens : A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari

RRP $27.99

$26.50

Aboriginal Australians : 5th Edition : History Since 1788 - Richard Broome
SPQR : A History of Ancient Rome - Mary Beard

RRP $27.99

$22.50

20%
OFF
Guns, Germs And Steel : The Fates of Human Societies - Jared Diamond
Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence : Nungar Ser. - Doris Pilkington Garimara

RRP $22.99

$15.35

33%
OFF
The Archaeology of Greece : An Introduction - William R. Biers

RRP $62.50

$41.35

34%
OFF
Sovereign Subjects : Indigenous sovereignty matters - Aileen Moreton-Robinson
Remembering the Myall Creek Massacre - Jane Lydon

RRP $34.99

$25.75

26%
OFF
A Military History of Australia : 3rd Edition - Jeffrey Grey

RRP $82.45

$56.95

31%
OFF
Postwar : A History of Europe Since 1945 - Tony Judt
Culture and Imperialism - Edward W. Said

RRP $32.99

$32.90