Adam ferguson's contribution

It is through the above theories of human nature, natural state and social changes that Ferguson pondered and criticized modern commercial civilization, the most important of which was his thinking about the tension between modern commercial civilization and classical civic virtue. Secondly, he made an incisive analysis of the division of labor and specialization in industrial society and its consequences. Finally, from the standpoint of classicism, he discussed his views on corruption and political slavery, which are refreshing today. As a thinker deeply influenced by classical education, many of Ferguson's theories are from the standpoint of classicism, which is different from Hume and Smith, because Hume and Smith believe that since the commercial society has recently emerged, there must be new standards of virtue. Therefore, the meaning of "civic virtue", one of the most critical words in The History of Civilized Society, is worth exploring. In what sense did Ferguson discuss it? Ferguson's concept of virtue is very different from today's ethics. To clarify the meaning of Ferguson's concept of virtue, it is necessary to explain the difference between classical harmony and modern political freedom. Classical * * * pacifism came into being during the Renaissance, which advocated taking ancient * * * countries such as ancient Rome as a model. Political freedom lies in the positive civil rights in a close political * * * body, which is mainly enjoyed by citizens-soldiers. Thinkers in the tradition of civicism especially emphasize that citizens with public consciousness and property participate in national defense and politics and challenge the autocratic monarchy. In 1519, when Machiavelli wrote "On the Top Ten Books of Ti Tuo Levi's History", he carried out the earliest modernization of classical * * * harmony. Machiavelli's views were introduced into English politics by Harrington and others, which had a great influence on Ferguson and others. Some people think that Ferguson is the most "Machiavelli-style" of Scottish thinkers, that is to say, he is deeply influenced by the classical * * * harmony. In the aspect of moral philosophy, the thought of citizenism is deeply influenced by Stoicism, which holds that luxury and "weakness"-spiritual corruption-are evils that threaten the virtue of simplicity and masculinity of citizens and soldiers. They also believe that virtue and masculinity are inseparable.

Modern political freedom is based on economic progress, social education and a well-balanced system. Montesquieu developed this concept of modern freedom in some chapters of his Letters to the Persians (1721) and On the Spirit of Law (1748). He believed that this kind of political freedom would replace the freedom enjoyed by citizens and soldiers in classical China. Montesquieu had a great influence on Ferguson. Ferguson once wrote, "When I think about the masterpiece written by Dean Montesquieu, I can't help wondering why I still want to study human affairs." Ly However, Ferguson did not fully accept Montesquieu's "progressive" concept of political freedom. Although he did not completely deny the system of modern civilization, to a great extent, he criticized the loss of civic virtue in modern civilized society, that is, the lack of public spirit. At this point, Ferguson is also different from Hume and Smith. Ferguson's criticism is reflected in his interpretation of the concept of virtue and his views on corruption and political slavery. Ferguson's civic virtue is simply a vibrant, optimistic and enterprising civic consciousness, and his virtue is closely related to politics. To have virtue means to have political consciousness and public spirit. Perhaps from the viewpoint of Berlin, a contemporary thinker, it means to enjoy "positive" freedom. Furthermore, Ferguson thinks that the so-called "educated" means "political", while the so-called "civilized" means acting like a citizen. If these words lose their original meaning, it means that a series of values they contain are threatened. If "polis" is no longer based on virtue (vir), this society is doomed to sudden collapse or decline.

Besides, Ferguson's view on "civilization" is quite tolerant. He believes that the words "civilized" and "educated" are tender and affectionate, and they are a criterion based on European tradition and commercial civilization, which combines the worship of women and chivalry in medieval knight literature and the tolerance and pliancy advocated by Christianity, which is very different from the early history of ancient Greece and Rome. Modern principles of international law are based on the above spirit rather than ancient political laws. Because there was only strong love and strong hatred in ancient people, it should be "barbaric" in the eyes of "civilized" people. In his book, Ferguson constantly quotes the narratives of some contemporary travel writers about "barbarians" in America and compares them with ancient countries, which in itself shows his broad vision of the multi-faceted and diversified existence of history.

Ferguson mainly takes the loss of civic virtue as the starting point and clue, criticizes all kinds of drawbacks of modern commercial civilization, including the analysis of the disadvantages of social division of labor and specialization, the attack on the supremacy of law, the discussion of the tension between "public" and "private" people in modern society, and so on, and finally draws the reasons for social corruption and political slavery.

first of all, what is corruption? The corruption in Ferguson's mind is different from today's meaning. The core of his so-called corruption is the loss of civic virtue and the corruption of national customs. He is not corrupt in the sense of Stoicism. He believes that the greatest moral danger in modern society comes not from the increase of wealth but from political laziness. The deterioration of national fashion is due to the decline of enterprising spirit, which is replaced by the weak will and malaise of the whole nation. In a corrupt society, "human beings either become greedy, cunning, savage and easily infringe on the rights of others, or they are servile, mercenary and despicable, and want to hand over their rights at any time." LZ Ferguson believes that the deepest cause of corruption is the loss of public welfare spirit, that is, the loss of civic virtue. Shown in two aspects. First, from the perspective of the political system: often when this kind of corruption occurs, the social order is orderly, and it is possible to maintain superficial stability and prosperity. However, it is this lifeless "social order" that Ferguson criticized. He believes that this order in which citizens are indifferent to the country and society lacks the necessary turmoil is a "slave order, not a freeman order". In a corrupt society, the struggle between parties tends to subside, and it becomes a kind of wisdom to stay away from politics. The upper-class people who should bear the responsibility pursue the anesthesia of retirement or enjoyment, while the ordinary people are mercenary, while holding public office is to satisfy vanity, greed and ambition, not to engage in it as a just and comfortable cause. Generally speaking, people avoid public welfare undertakings. Second, from the overall social fashion, people often call this era "civilized". They no longer care about public welfare, but care about self-interest and physical enjoyment, or focus on discussing trivial things such as ease and personal troubles, and call themselves "sensitive", "exquisite" and "taste" and so on. In this era, "people think that only considering wealth is the smartest. Ignoring public welfare undertakings and being indifferent to human affairs are considered to be the virtues of moderation. " Secondly, Ferguson distinguished the relationship between luxury and corruption. Throughout the 18th century, there was an extensive discussion among European intellectuals about luxury. Some people thought that luxury promoted social progress, while others thought that luxury deepened the corruption of civilization. Ferguson doesn't think luxury is necessarily related to corruption, just as he doesn't think corruption is necessarily related to wealth. First, the definition of luxury. He believes that luxury refers to "the accumulation of wealth and the improvement of the way to enjoy wealth." It is the result of hard work or the development of handicraft art and commercial art. " Luxury represents material and social progress and development to a certain extent. On the other hand, the standard of luxury is influenced by the times and different regimes. Due to different material foundations, what is considered a luxury in one era or regime may become a necessity in another era or regime. Moreover, even if there is a pursuit and hobby of fashion in a certain era, it is understandable as long as it does not harm people's concern for public welfare and self-cultivation, because the difference between virtue and evil should not be judged only by whether people wear strange clothes or enjoy delicious food, but by quality and ideological quality, because "in the jungle and in towns, vanity is the same."

Therefore, luxury is not the most important reason for corruption, it only encourages unhealthy tendencies in the era of corruption. On the one hand, Ferguson thinks that the growth of wealth is not directly proportional to corruption, on the other hand, he thinks that taking wealth as the basis of prominent position will lead to corruption, which is actually not contradictory, because he has another meaning: he thinks that after the introduction of the hierarchical system with the characteristics of monarchy in democracy, there is no corresponding introduction of the aristocratic consciousness of taking responsibility for society because of noble birth and hereditary honor. This kind of society, which is purely based on the amount of wealth, is also corrupt because of its lack of aristocratic consciousness. The standard of money often leads to the class with a lot of wealth losing contact with society more and more. Everyone only pays attention to their own self-interest, and the spirit of public welfare is increasingly lost.

Finally, Ferguson naturally talked about the consequences of corruption-political slavery. The most direct consequence of corruption is the establishment of an authoritarian regime, which leads to political slavery, and its core is the loss of civic virtue. Ferguson believes that the modern "free" system tends to protect citizens' property and safety, create a stable environment and stop riots and disputes. As a national, it is considered that it is important to pursue self-interest to benefit the country. Ferguson believes that this concept hides a huge crisis. Because, in his view, political life is too calm and public life is too stable, which is a sign of social laziness and the decline of national spirit. This is a disease of civilization, which shows that people's spirit is weak and delicate, and this "freedom" is easy to lose. "If any nation publicly announces that the purpose of its internal political improvement is only to ensure the personal and property safety of its subjects, regardless of their political quality, then this system is indeed free, but its members may not be worthy of the freedom they enjoy and have no ability to preserve it."

Ferguson particularly emphasized the vitality of society. No matter whether it is external wars or internal disputes, it is a sign of vitality, while silence and tranquility are the signs of political degradation. He said that if a country enslaves its people and stops the unrest of the free people with cruel and cruel laws, instead of stopping crime and eliminating corruption, then "we can imagine that many so-called advances in civilized society are just means to calm the political spirit, or rather they suppress people's positive virtues."

The above is an attempt to explain Ferguson's social and political theory. In the next 3 years after its publication, The History of Civilized Society was praised by scholars with different tendencies, including boswell and Dolbach. In the mid-198s, the elderly Voltaire met Ferguson in Ferney and praised him for "civilizing" the Russians, because Russian universities adopted the book as a teaching material, and so did many other places. Ferguson was also worshipped by German Herder and Hamann, and aroused the poetic sentiment of the romantic poet Novalis. During Ferguson's lifetime, The History of Civilized Society was reprinted seven times, including Basel, Dublin and Boston. The German version appeared in Leipzig in 1768 and the French version appeared in Paris in 1783. Ferguson's influence is certainly not limited to his time. Some words in The History of Civilized Society later became familiar words in academic circles. He was the first person to use the word "civilization", and his concept of "civil society" was given a new meaning by Hegel in Germany. The German counterpart was "Burgenliche Gesellschaft", which was very different in meaning and was later called "civil society" theory. Hegel read and used Ferguson's works, and it was the German translation of On the History of Civilized Society that promoted the popularity of the concept of "Burgerliche Gesellschaft" in German academic circles. In addition, the word "conjecture" in history was later used by his student and successor, Dugald Stewart, as "conjectural history" to summarize the unique historical philosophy in the Scottish Enlightenment. In addition, "multiplicity of wants" is consistent with the concept carefully explained by Hegel to some extent. Whether the "superstructure" has an impact on Marx remains to be speculated. Ferguson resigned from his teaching post in 1785, and has kept a clear head since then, enjoying a long life. He traveled all over Europe again and was awarded honorary membership by academic institutions in Berlin, Rome and Florence. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars were not only deeply emotional events for him, but also a defense of the work he pursued all his life. Ferguson, with sympathy for the revolutionary spirit (if not in a revolutionary way), experienced all stages of this historical drama from * * * and (civic) to imperial to military. In 1816, Ferguson died shortly before his eldest son Adam was released from captivity in France.

The importance of Voegelin's death is beyond words. His works have a more lasting influence in continental Europe, especially in Germany than in Britain. More than a century after the publication of The History of Civilized Society, German scholars have played an outstanding and original role in Ferguson's thought: Schiller was inspired by his ethics, especially his concept of games; Hegel benefited from his historical narrative: Marx adopted his thoughts on division of labor; Sambat praised his sociological foresight. It is worth noting that none of these readers care about the concept of civic virtue that Ferguson emphasizes most in his book.

Even today, rereading such classics, Ferguson's strong critical consciousness and nearly 2 years later can still make people deeply impressed.