21
See also: Ferdinand Tönnies 32–33 ■ Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Émile Durkheim 34–37 ■
Amitai Etzioni 112–19 ■ Norbert Elias 180–81 ■ Max Weber 220–23P
rogress is both inevitable
and desirable, but we must
always be aware of the
social costs that might be exacted
as progress is made. Such was
the warning of the philosopher
and historian Adam Ferguson,
who was one of the “Select Society”
of Edinburgh intellectuals of the
Scottish Enlightenment, a group
that included the philosopher David
Hume and economist Adam Smith.
Ferguson believed, as did
Smith, that commercial growth is
driven by self-interest, but unlike
Smith he analyzed the effects of
this development and felt it was
happening at the expense of
traditional values of cooperation
and “fellow-feeling.” In the past,
societies had been based on
families or communities, and
community spirit was fostered
by ideas of honor and loyalty.
But the self-interest demanded by
capitalism weakens these values,
and ultimately leads to social
collapse. To prevent commercial
capitalism from sowing the seeds
of its own destruction, Fergusonadvocated promoting a sense of
civic spirit, encouraging people
to act in the interest of society
rather than in self-interest.
Ferguson’s criticism of
capitalism and commercialism
meant that his theories were
rejected by mainstream thinkers
such as Hume and Smith, but they
later influenced the political ideas
of Hegel and Marx. And because
he viewed the subject from a social
rather than political or economic
angle, his work helped to lay the
foundations of modern sociology. ■FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY
M A N K I N D H A V E A L W A Y S
W A N D E R E D O R S E T T L E D ,
A G R E E D O R Q U A R R E L E D ,
I N T R O O P S A N D C O M P A N I E S
ADAM FERGUSON (1723–1816)
IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Civic spirit
KEY DATES
1748 Montesquieu publishes
The Spirit of the Laws, arguing
that political institutions
should derive from the social
mores of a community.
1767 Adam Ferguson outlines
his views in his book Essay
on the History of Civil Society.
1776 With The Wealth of
Nations, Adam Smith pioneers
modern economics.
1867 Karl Marx analyzes
capitalism in the first volume
of Das Kapital.
1893 Émile Durkheim
examines the importance of
beliefs and values in holding
society together in The
Division of Labor in Society.
1993 Amitai Etzioni founds
The Communitarian Network
to strengthen the moral and
social foundations of society.
Man is born in civil society...
and there he remains.
Montesquieu
French philosopher (1689 –1755)