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Adam Ferguson on “Action” and the Possibility of Non-Political Participation

Bibliographic Data

ID6356344
AuthorsBrandon P Turner, Brandon Turner (0000-0001-8284-2794, Clemson University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume44
Issue2
Pages212-233
Publication date2012-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3497 • E-ISSN: 1744-1684
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1057/pol.2012.1
OpenAlexW2327302937
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited7

Political theorists who are interested in the Western republican tradition often interpret Adam Ferguson as a civic humanist and contrast his work with the liberal institutionalism of Hume and Smith. I argue that the republican interpretation fails to understand Ferguson's view of human action and thereby obscures his potential contribution to liberal theory. This article offers a comprehensive account of Ferguson's concept of action, and emphasizes the instrumental and scientific aspects of his thought. Ferguson views politics as an accumulative project involving both political participation and non-political forms of activity. His thoughts on action and politics, therefore, reveal much about his view of the potential of non-political action and the ways it contributes to civil and political society

Action (physics · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Humanism · Interpretation (philosophy · Political action · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Political Theory and Influence

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Unique citing works1
Citations per year0,11
Citation span2017 - 2017 (1)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 1
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