Adam Ferguson in the Scottish Enlightenment

Iain McDaniel

“Iain McDaniel’s major new study on the work of Adam Ferguson is without question the most serious examination of the political thought of this important but relatively neglected figure of the Scottish Enlightenment. It should be required reading for students of the Enlightenment, with relevance to scholars across the fields of the history of political thought and historically-oriented political theory.”—Richard Bourke, Queen Mary, University of London

“Adam Ferguson in the Scottish Enlightenment is the work of an extremely able scholar who has something important to say and the ability to say it. It deals with the political thought of the later Enlightenment, with its concern with the future of the European state system in an age of war, commerce, empire and revolution, and more particularly with the threat of military despotism to which the greatest European states seemed vulnerable. McDaniel’s contribution to the political thought of the Scottish Enlightenment is revelatory and of fundamental importance.”—Nicholas Phillipson, University of Edinburgh