FERGUSON, ADAM. - Scottish moralist, sociologist and historian, b. at Logiereit in 1724, from 1764

from 1785 professor of moral philosophy at the college of Edinburgh, d. at St. Andrews in 1816.

Linking his general philosophical conceptions to the doctrine of T. Reid, F. developed an original system of moral and social philosophy tending toward a synthesis among the motives of egoism, altruism and moral idealism. F., however, also carried out the treatment of the problems of social life and of the State in part according to criteria and methods that anticipate the modern idea of an empirical sociology and political science: in his extensive study on the history of the Roman Republic he undertakes, in the sense of these sciences, the analysis of the political and social institutions of the ancient Roman State.

Principal works: Institutes of moral philosophy (Edinburgh 1769); Principles of moral and political science (2 vols., ibid. 1792); History of the progress and the termination of the republic (3 vols., London 1783).

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: U. Kaneko, Die Moralphilosophie A. F., Leipzig 1904; H. Huth, Soziale und individualistische Auffassungen im 18. Jahrhundert, vornehmlich bei A. Smith und A. F., ibid. 1907; W. C. Lahmann, A. F. and the beginnings of modern sociology, New York 1930.

Bede Thum

@incollection{ec5_ferguson_adam, author = {Thum, Beda}, title = {Ferguson, adam}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {1170--1171}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ferguson-adam} }

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Ferguson, Adam

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