FERGUSON, Adam.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

An Essay on the History of Civil Society. First edition of this key text of the Scottish Enlightenment, a pioneering precursor of modern sociology. The Essay explores how nations had developed towards the state of commerce, refinement, and liberty associated with 18th-century Britain. It consequently examines the development of human society, from barbarism to civilized refinement, and the consequences of that development - both beneficial and detrimental. Widely seen as synthesizing the thought of his times, Ferguson followed Montesquieu in emphasizing the great variety of factors informing the historical rise and fall of polities in Europe and beyond. He had much to say on the issues of contemporary society, including the thorny question of balancing wealth and virtue. His answer was to challenge the tendency of wealthy commercial men to withdraw from politics, and thus from virtuous activities, by inculcating a greater civic consciousness among such individuals. Among his contemporaries, Ferguson's Essay made a particularly significant impact on the efforts to develop a discipline of social sciences at the University of Göttigen: "They were impressed by his comparative attitude to societies ancient and modern, and by his attack on Rousseau's concept of the state of nature. Ferguson's approach inspired a comparative ethnography that went beyond the traditional dichotomy between 'primitive' and 'civilized', and tried to map the varieties of social mores without grading them

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.