|
See also:FERGUSON, See also:ADAM (1723-1816) , Scottish philosopher and historian, was See also:born on the loth of See also:June 1723, at Logierait, See also:Perthshire. He was educated at See also:Perth See also:grammar school and the university of St See also:Andrews. In 1745, owing to his knowledge of Gaelic, he was appointed See also:deputy See also:chaplain of the 43rd (afterwards the 42nd) See also:regiment (the See also:Black See also:Watch), the See also:licence to preach being granted him by See also:special See also:dispensation, although he had not completed the required six years of theological study. At the See also:battle of See also:Fontenoy (1745) Ferguson fought in the ranks through-out the See also:day, and refused to leave the See also:- FIELD (a word common to many West German languages, cf. Ger. Feld, Dutch veld, possibly cognate with O.E. f olde, the earth, and ultimately with root of the Gr. irAaror, broad)
- FIELD, CYRUS WEST (1819-1892)
- FIELD, DAVID DUDLEY (18o5-1894)
- FIELD, EUGENE (1850-1895)
- FIELD, FREDERICK (18o1—1885)
- FIELD, HENRY MARTYN (1822-1907)
- FIELD, JOHN (1782—1837)
- FIELD, MARSHALL (183 1906)
- FIELD, NATHAN (1587—1633)
- FIELD, STEPHEN JOHNSON (1816-1899)
- FIELD, WILLIAM VENTRIS FIELD, BARON (1813-1907)
field, though ordered to do so by his See also:colonel. He continued attached to the regiment till1754, when, disappointed at not obtaining a living, he abandoned the clerical profession and resolved to devote himself to See also:literary pursuits. In See also:January 1757 he succeeded See also:David See also:Hume as librarian to the See also:faculty of See also:advocates, but soon relinquished this See also:- OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")
office on becoming See also:tutor in the See also:family of See also:Lord See also:Bute.
In 1959 Ferguson was appointed See also:professor of natural See also:philosophy in the university of See also:Edinburgh, and in 1764 was transferred to the See also:chair of " See also:pneumatics " (See also:mental philosophy) " and moral philosophy." In 1767, against Hume's See also:advice, he published his See also:Essay on the See also:History of See also:Civil Society, which was well received and translated into several See also:European See also:languages. In 1976 appeared his (See also:anonymous) pamphlet on the See also:American revolution in opposition to Dr See also:Price's Observations on the Nature of Civil See also:Liberty, in which he sympathized with the views of the See also:British legislature. In 1778 Ferguson was appointed secretary to the See also:commission which endeavoured, but without success, to negotiate an arrangement with the revolted colonies. In 1783 appeared his History of the Progress and Termination of the See also:Roman See also:Republic; it was very popular, and went through several See also:editions. Ferguson was led to undertake this See also:work from a conviction that the history of the See also:Romans during the See also:period of their greatness was a See also:practical See also:illustration of those ethical and See also:political doctrines which were the See also:object of his special study. The history is written in an agreeable See also:style and a spirit of impartiality, and gives See also:evidence of a conscientious use of authorities. The See also:influence of the author's military experience shows itself in certain portions of the narrative. Finding himself unequal to the labour of teaching, he resigned his professorship in 1785, and devoted himself to the revision of his lectures, which he published (1792) under the See also:title of Principles of Moral and Political See also:Science.
When in his seventieth See also:year, Ferguson, intending to prepare a new edition of the history, visited See also:Italy and some of the See also:principal cities of See also:Europe, where he was received with See also:honour by learned See also:societies. From 1795 he resided successively at the old See also:castle of Neidpath near See also:Peebles, at Hallyards on See also:Manor See also:Water and at St Andrews, where he died on the 22nd of See also:February 1816.
In his ethical See also:system Ferguson treats See also:man throughout as a social being, and illustrates his doctrines by political examples. As a believer in the progression of the human See also:race, he placed the principle of moral approbation in the attainment of perfection. His speculations were carefully criticized by See also:Cousin (see his Cours d'histoire de la philosophic morale au See also:dix-huitieme siecle, pt. ii., 1839–184o):—" We find in his method the See also:wisdom and circumspection of the Scottish school, with something more masculine and decisive in the results. The principle of perfection is a new one, at once more rational and comprehensive than benevolence and sympathy, which in our view places Ferguson as a moralist above all his predecessors." By this principle Ferguson endeavours to reconcile all moral systems. With See also:Hobbes and Hume he admits the See also:power of self-See also:interest or utility, and makes it enter into morals as the See also:law of self-preservation. See also:Hutcheson's theory of universal benevolence and See also:- SMITH
- SMITH, ADAM (1723–1790)
- SMITH, ALEXANDER (183o-1867)
- SMITH, ANDREW JACKSON (1815-1897)
- SMITH, CHARLES EMORY (1842–1908)
- SMITH, CHARLES FERGUSON (1807–1862)
- SMITH, CHARLOTTE (1749-1806)
- SMITH, COLVIN (1795—1875)
- SMITH, EDMUND KIRBY (1824-1893)
- SMITH, G
- SMITH, GEORGE (1789-1846)
- SMITH, GEORGE (184o-1876)
- SMITH, GEORGE ADAM (1856- )
- SMITH, GERRIT (1797–1874)
- SMITH, GOLDWIN (1823-191o)
- SMITH, HENRY BOYNTON (1815-1877)
- SMITH, HENRY JOHN STEPHEN (1826-1883)
- SMITH, HENRY PRESERVED (1847– )
- SMITH, JAMES (1775–1839)
- SMITH, JOHN (1579-1631)
- SMITH, JOHN RAPHAEL (1752–1812)
- SMITH, JOSEPH, JR
- SMITH, MORGAN LEWIS (1822–1874)
- SMITH, RICHARD BAIRD (1818-1861)
- SMITH, ROBERT (1689-1768)
- SMITH, SIR HENRY GEORGE WAKELYN
- SMITH, SIR THOMAS (1513-1577)
- SMITH, SIR WILLIAM (1813-1893)
- SMITH, SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY (1764-1840)
- SMITH, SYDNEY (1771-1845)
- SMITH, THOMAS SOUTHWOOD (1788-1861)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (1769-1839)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (c. 1730-1819)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (fl. 1596)
- SMITH, WILLIAM FARRAR (1824—1903)
- SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1808—1872)
- SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1825—1891)
- SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON (1846-'894)
Smith's See also:idea of sympathy he combines under the law of society. But, as these See also:laws are the means rather than the end of human destiny, they are subordinate to a supreme end, and this supreme end is perfection. In the political See also:part of his system Ferguson follows See also:Montesquieu, and pleads the cause of well-regulated liberty and See also:free See also:government. His contemporaries, with the exception of Hume, regarded his writings as of See also:great importance; in point of fact they are superficial. The facility of their style and the frequent occurrence of would-be weighty epigrams blinded his critics to the fact that, in spite of his recognition of the importance of observation, he made no real contribution to political theory (see See also:Sir See also:Leslie See also:Stephen, See also:English Thought in the Eighteenth See also:Century, x. 89-90).
The See also:chief authority for Ferguson's See also:life is the See also:Biographical See also:Sketch by See also:John Small (1864); see also Public Characters 1799–1800); See also:Gentleman's See also:Magazine, i. (1816 supp.) ; W. R. See also:Chambers's Biographical See also:Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen; memoir by Principal See also:- LEE
- LEE (or LEGIT) ROWLAND (d. 1543)
- LEE, ANN (1736–1784)
- LEE, ARTHUR (1740–1792)
- LEE, FITZHUGH (1835–1905)
- LEE, GEORGE ALEXANDER (1802-1851)
- LEE, HENRY (1756-1818)
- LEE, JAMES PRINCE (1804-1869)
- LEE, NATHANIEL (c. 1653-16g2)
- LEE, RICHARD HENRY (1732-1794)
- LEE, ROBERT EDWARD (1807–1870)
- LEE, SIDNEY (1859– )
- LEE, SOPHIA (1950-1824)
- LEE, STEPHEN DILL (1833-1908)
Lee in See also:early editions of the See also:Encyclopaedia Britannica; J. McCosh, The Scottish Philosophy (1875) ; articles in Dictionary of See also:National See also:Biography and Edinburgh See also:Review (January 1867) ; Lord See also:- HENRY
- HENRY (1129-1195)
- HENRY (c. 1108-1139)
- HENRY (c. 1174–1216)
- HENRY (Fr. Henri; Span. Enrique; Ger. Heinrich; Mid. H. Ger. Heinrich and Heimrich; O.H.G. Haimi- or Heimirih, i.e. " prince, or chief of the house," from O.H.G. heim, the Eng. home, and rih, Goth. reiks; compare Lat. rex " king "—" rich," therefore " mig
- HENRY, EDWARD LAMSON (1841– )
- HENRY, JAMES (1798-1876)
- HENRY, JOSEPH (1797-1878)
- HENRY, MATTHEW (1662-1714)
- HENRY, PATRICK (1736–1799)
- HENRY, PRINCE OF BATTENBERG (1858-1896)
- HENRY, ROBERT (1718-1790)
- HENRY, VICTOR (1850– )
- HENRY, WILLIAM (1795-1836)
Henry See also:Cockburn, Memorials of his See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
Time (1856).
End of Article: FERGUSON, ADAM (1723-1816)
Additional information and Comments
There are no comments yet for this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.
Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.
|
del.icio.us it!