Political vanity
Subtitle: Adam Ferguson on the moral tensions of early capitalism
By: Matthew B. Arbo
Publisher: Fortress Press
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Minneapolis, Minneapolis
Language: eng
Number of pages: 149
ISBN-13: 9781451482751
Subjects: Moral and ethical aspects; Capitalism
Description: Political Vanity aims to illuminate the central debates over the historical, moral, and political legitimacy of market capitalism as though still profoundly theological in character. This theological sensitivity is achieved by keeping conversation with central theorists of the Scottish Enlightenment, in particular the philosopher and sociologist Adam Ferguson. Ferguson was a contemporary of Hume and Smith, and actively questioned many of the pillars of early capitalism on theological grounds.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Ferguson's political theology; title: The meaning of history; title: Action and human nature; title: The peril of commercial society; title: Trappings of liberal democratic capitalism.