Civilised Warfare

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.