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Adam Ferguson[fUr´gusun] Pronunciation Key, 1723–1816, Scottish philosopher and historian. He was professor of philosophy at the Univ. of Edinburgh (1759–85). His Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767) criticized earlier theories of a state of nature; it was an important contribution to intellectual history and influenced Hegel. In his Principles of Moral and Political Science (1792), Ferguson advanced the principle of perfection and attempted to reconcile self-interest and universal benevolence.
See D. Kettler, The Social and Political Thought of Adam Ferguson (1965); M. Jack, Corruption and Progress: The 18th-Century Debate (1989).
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