This book has been seen as an innovative attempt to reclaim the tradition of republican citizenship in modern Britain, and an influence on the ideas of republicanism held by the American Founding Fathers. The author emphasized the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes, saying “fellow-feeling” was so much an “appurtenance of human nature” as to be a “characteristic of the species.”

This book has been seen as an innovative attempt to reclaim the tradition of republican citizenship in modern Britain, and an influence on the ideas of republicanism held by the American Founding Fathers. The author emphasized the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes, saying “fellow-feeling” was so much an “appurtenance of human nature” as to be a “characteristic of the species.”

Adam Ferguson (20 June 1723-22 February 1816) was a Scottish philosopher and historian of the Scottish Enlightenment. Ferguson was sympathetic to traditional societies, such as the Highlands, for producing courage and loyalty. He criticized commercial society as making men weak, dishonourable and unconcerned for their community. Ferguson has been called “the father of modern sociology.”