Pub Date : 2019-01-01DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474413275.003.0003
Craig Smith
This chapter looks at Ferguson’s attempts to build a normative moral philosophy on the basis of his moral science. The relationship between universal attributes of human nature and their manifestation in the circumstances of particular societies leads Ferguson to attempt the creation of a clear moral vocabulary that will allow for ‘censorial inspection’ and moral decision making. Ferguson is not suggesting that we are bound by the content of current moral beliefs, but rather that these beliefs are the material that can help us clarify our thinking about moral issues. The chapter examines the key elements of Ferguson’s theory including his account of virtue, sociability, benevolence, happiness, action, and ambition. It argues that we should see Ferguson as a modern casuist, preparing a language for clear moral thinking.
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Pub Date : 2019-01-01DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474413275.003.0002
Craig Smith
This chapter outlines Ferguson’s commitment to an empirical, observation based, form of moral science. It begins by looking at Ferguson’s critique of the philosophical vices of existing schools of thought. Ferguson criticises these as being excessively abstract, imprecise in the use of language and overly complex, or subtle, in their arguments. The chapter argues that Ferguson sought to create a practical philosophy for use in the real world and was in the mainstream of the Scottish Enlightenment’s attempts to use history as data for social theory. The chapter then discusses the various underlying universals of human nature and social life that form the basis of Ferguson’s moral science. A central claim is that Ferguson believed it to be a fact that all humans are censorial creatures who pass judgement on each other leading to the claim that morality is a human universal even while humans disagree on its content.
{"title":"Moral Science","authors":"Craig Smith","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474413275.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474413275.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter outlines Ferguson’s commitment to an empirical, observation based, form of moral science. It begins by looking at Ferguson’s critique of the philosophical vices of existing schools of thought. Ferguson criticises these as being excessively abstract, imprecise in the use of language and overly complex, or subtle, in their arguments. The chapter argues that Ferguson sought to create a practical philosophy for use in the real world and was in the mainstream of the Scottish Enlightenment’s attempts to use history as data for social theory. The chapter then discusses the various underlying universals of human nature and social life that form the basis of Ferguson’s moral science. A central claim is that Ferguson believed it to be a fact that all humans are censorial creatures who pass judgement on each other leading to the claim that morality is a human universal even while humans disagree on its content.","PeriodicalId":190192,"journal":{"name":"Adam Ferguson and the Idea of Civil Society","volume":"117 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128357572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-01-01DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474413275.003.0006
Craig Smith
The final chapter turns to Adam Ferguson’s preoccupation with warfare and citizen militias. It argues that Ferguson saw war as a human universal and a key feature of politics. The chapter covers Ferguson’s account of the rise of nations and of the superiority of modern rule-governed warfare over that of the ancient world. It links this to his view that we can pass moral judgements on the ‘spirit’ of nations. Judging nations through moral science and in line with the values developed in moral philosophy helps us to understand the benefits of commercial society and the potential dangers to which it is subject.
{"title":"Civilised Warfare","authors":"Craig Smith","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474413275.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474413275.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"The final chapter turns to Adam Ferguson’s preoccupation with warfare and citizen militias. It argues that Ferguson saw war as a human universal and a key feature of politics. The chapter covers Ferguson’s account of the rise of nations and of the superiority of modern rule-governed warfare over that of the ancient world. It links this to his view that we can pass moral judgements on the ‘spirit’ of nations. Judging nations through moral science and in line with the values developed in moral philosophy helps us to understand the benefits of commercial society and the potential dangers to which it is subject.","PeriodicalId":190192,"journal":{"name":"Adam Ferguson and the Idea of Civil Society","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132156836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-01-01DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474413275.003.0005
Craig Smith
This chapter makes the case for Ferguson as a partisan for civilisation and sees him not as a critic of modern commercial society, but rather as someone deeply aware of its fragility. The benefits of civilisation are wealth and freedom, and Ferguson defends both of them. The chapter argues that Ferguson’s theory of the evolution of nations and their institutions sits alongside his attempt to educate the virtuous gentlemen necessary to make the right decisions to maintain the benefits of wealthy and free societies. Ferguson’s theory of corruption is not nostalgic republicanism, but rather a clear-eyed analysis of the present situation in Hanoverian Britain.
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