ALEX FERGUSON (Born in 1941) Coached Scottish clubs East Stirling, St. Mirren, Aberdeen, and the Scottish national team. He has been coaching Manchester United since 1986. Alex Ferguson's coaching career seems incredibly successful. With his club "Manchester"

Philosopher and historian, professor of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Adam Smith's teacher.

Ferguson published his main work, “Essay on the history of the civil society,” in 1766. From the point of view of literary form, it suffered from verbosity, some trivial lengths, and great ponderousness. But amid the heavy exposition, some strong and fruitful ideas stood out. Ferguson is one of the founders of positivist and sociological attempts at an empirical and at the same time constructive understanding of the development that forms of human society undergo from a primitive stage to a higher culture under the influence of general laws. He tried to do this, following not only the impulses emanating from Montesquieu, but also moving in the footsteps of Hume, for Ferguson emphasized the importance of instinct in the emergence of society. He then, strongly influenced by Lafitau's method, compared this material with Tacitus' reports about the ancient Germans and with ancient stories about early Rome and Sparta. He demonstrated a special understanding of the changing forms of society as a result of growing social differentiation.

Along with positivist tendencies, Ferguson expressed significant ideas that led to historicism. Having experienced the beneficial effects of Hume's teaching on instincts, he energetically opposed ordinary pragmatism, which tends to explain the emergence and change of state formations by the conscious motives of people. The origin of social institutions, he said, lies in the dark and distant past. They arise from natural inclinations, and not from the speculative constructions of people. As if in darkness, people groped for institutions that were not foreseen, but arose as consequences of their activities. At the same time, Ferguson recalled the words of Cromwell that a person never rises higher than when he does not know where he is going. Thus, the doctrine of the emergence of the state as a result of the conclusion of a treaty collapsed in the eyes of Ferguson. The structure of Rome and Sparta, this favorite object of pragmatic observation of the state, was based, from his point of view, not on the plans of individuals, but on the situation in which the people and their geniuses found themselves.

Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) is a representative of a brilliant galaxy of Scottish thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. His main book, “An Experience in the History of Civil Society,” was published in 1767 and quickly gained European fame, going through 7 editions during the author’s lifetime. In 1817-1819 an incomplete Russian translation of Ferguson's book appeared. Here is an excerpt from his book. Text quoted from the publication: Ferguson A. Experience in the history of civil society / Transl. from English Ed. M.A. Abramova. - M.: “Russian Political Encyclopedia” (ROSSPEN), 2000.

ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND LIMITS OF DESPOTISM

Humanity, whenever it is overwhelmed by the process of degeneration, decline, as well as during periods of progressive development, the achievement of advantages, often reduces the pace of development to slow, barely noticeable steps. If, in centuries of vigorous activity, people achieve such greatness, which all human wisdom had not even thought of, then in periods of weakness and inactivity they bring upon themselves so many evils that they never dreamed of in a nightmare - such a thing seemed completely impossible to them against the background recent successes and prosperity. We have already observed that where people are guilty of negligence or corruption, the virtue of their leaders or the good intentions of the magistrate are not always able to preserve their political freedom. Unconditional submission to any leader or uncontrolled exercise of any authority, even if all this is aimed at the benefit of humanity, often ends in undermining the institutions of law. This fatal revolution, by whatever means it may be brought about, ends in military rule; the latter, despite being the simplest of all types of government, gradually receives its final form.

In the first stage of the exercise of such rule over people who previously acted as members of a free community, it can only lay the foundations without imposing all the components of despotic politics. The usurper, who, by means of an army, has gained possession of the central part of a great empire, perhaps sees around him the scattered remains of what was once a constitution, hears the murmur of a people who submit to him lazily and reluctantly; perhaps he even senses the danger posed by those from whose hands he knocked the sword, but whose hearts did not submit to him and did not resign themselves to his power. The persistence of a sense of entitlement among certain sections of society, as well as claims to privilege and honor, constitute serious obstacles to usurpation. If they do not disappear spontaneously over time and do not lose their strength as the depravity of society increases, they must be eradicated by force; so that every new step in the conquest of power leaves behind bloody traces.

The results, even in such a case, come with some delay. The spirit of Rome, as we know, could not be completely destroyed either by a succession of rulers or by repeated bloodshed and poisoning. Noble and respectable families continued to desire the return of their original honors: and in the solitude of their souls they did not tire of seeking joy in the study of the history of the republic, in the writings of bygone times, contemplation of the monuments of famous people and appeals to the lessons of philosophy, imbued with heroic ideas; all this gave birth to those outstanding personalities whose sublimity and whose very fate constitute, perhaps, the most exciting topic of human history. Unable to resist the general tendency to servility, they, thanks to their personal characteristics, became objects of mistrust and antipathy; and the price of the feelings silently nurtured in their breasts they had to pay in blood.

What guides the sovereign when choosing measures to establish his own rule in the face of the growing threat of despotism? He is guided by erroneous ideas about his own good, and sometimes also about the good of his people; in addition, he is guided by the desire to eliminate, as they arise, obstacles that stand in the way of his will. Once he has made his decision, anyone who opposes him becomes his enemy; if he harbors lofty plans, then anyone who claims a high position and intends to act independently is his rival. He leaves to the state no dignity other than that which he himself possesses, no effective force except that which bears the imprint of his fleeting pleasure. Guided by impressions that have the infallibility of instinct, he is never mistaken in choosing the objects of his likes and dislikes. The spirit of independence repels him, the spirit of servility attracts him. His rule is aimed at suppressing any untamed spirit and at concentrating all leadership functions in his hands. If power is true to itself to the end, it functions just as well in the hands of those who are not aware of such an outcome as of those who are fully capable of foreseeing it: the powers of either are not discussed - if they are genuine; if the authority is false or obtained through a misunderstanding, it is retained by force.

“You must die,” was Octavius’s response to the petition of each of the people asking him for mercy. The same sentence was pronounced by some of his followers against any citizen distinguished by noble birth or eminent virtue. But are the vices of despotism exhausted by the cruelty and bloodthirstiness with which it established or maintained dominance over intractable and restless people? And is death the greatest of the evils that threaten people in conditions of lawlessness? Of course, they often managed to survive, but their souls were filled with mistrust and jealousy, a sense of their own insignificance and anxiety generated by various insignificant concerns; every citizen turned into a slave, everything that previously united the members of society disappeared. There remains only one single civic duty - obedience, but this also has to be achieved by force. If, with such an establishment, spectacles full of humiliation and horror become inevitable, and every eyewitness can himself become a participant in such scenes, then death becomes a deliverance from torment; and that libation from the veins to which Thrasea was forced can be considered a worthy sacrifice to the glory of Jupiter the Liberator.

Oppression and cruelty are not always inherent in despotic rule; but even where they exist, they constitute only a part of evil. Such a government is based on corruption and the violation of all civil and political virtues; it forces its subjects to act out of fear; it indulges the passions of the few at the expense of the many, and establishes peace in society on the ruins of freedom and trust, which alone are capable of securing the vigor, strength, and sublimity of the human spirit. Under a free constitution, in which each individual occupies a certain position, enjoys certain privileges, and has an idea of ​​his personal rights, the members of the community are objects of attention and respect for each other; solving the problems of civil society involves not only the use of power, but also talents, wisdom, and the power of persuasion. But under despotic rule, the highest virtue is this. to rule exclusively by command, rejecting all methods other than coercion. Therefore, as a result of this policy, man’s abilities to understand and feel, as well as his imagination, gradually become unclaimed; and just as smoothly and gradually as the accumulation of the achievements of mankind, which operated in society on the principles of freedom, took place earlier, its degeneration occurs under the influence of the misadventures described above.

When we hear stories about how quiet it is in the seraglio, we get the impression that there is simply no need for verbal communication: to carry out the orders of the rulers, the signs used by the dumb are sufficient. No skill is required to maintain power where force is opposed only by fear, where the powers of the sovereign are entirely delegated to any subordinate official; no position occupied provides freedom of thought in an atmosphere of silence and oppression, when hearts are filled with jealousy and apprehension, and nothing but carnal pleasures can ease the suffering of either the sovereign himself or his subjects. In other states, the improvement of people's abilities is sometimes associated with belonging to the highest strata of society. But in the case under consideration, we are dealing with a situation where the ruler himself is perhaps the most rude and uncultured representative of society; he is inferior to the slave whom he himself raised from his miserable condition to the rank of his confidant. The primitive simplicity underlying the bonds of friendship and intimacy that unite the sovereign with the shepherd of his flock seems to be repeated in a situation that excludes all attachments; more precisely, here we are dealing with the imitation of this simplicity under conditions of ignorance and rudeness, equally inherent in all strata of society, or rather, erasing differences in the position and personal qualities of people due to despotic rule.

The rule of the sovereign is built on whim and passion. Everyone to whom he delegates authority should act in the same spirit, responding with a blow to a provocation and a favor to the pleasure given. In everything that concerns revenue, law or police, each provincial ruler acts as a leader behind enemy lines: he appears armed with such means of intimidation as fire and sword, and instead of collecting taxes, he assigns forced indemnities; he is ready to both ruin and spare, depending on what is beneficial to him at the moment. Of course, when the groans of the oppressed or the glory of the wealth accumulated at the expense of a given locality reach the ears of the sovereign, the acquisitive person is usually punished for extortion, losing part or all of the loot; but the victims are not compensated for the damage - not at all: the crimes of the governor are used as a pretext for robbing the people and punishing them by filling the sovereign's treasury.

It is noteworthy that in this situation of complete oblivion of the principles of just government and national policy, even the craft of a soldier is in decline. The princeps' ignorance and mediocrity are compensated by his mistrust and jealousy. Both of these together undermine the foundation on which his power rests. Any armed crowd begins to be called an army, and a weakened, scattered and unarmed people becomes a victim of disorder in the army or is doomed to death in the face of an enemy drawn to the borders of despotism by the desire for profit or conquest. The Romans expanded their empire until there were no enlightened nations left unconquered, and came upon a frontier beyond which they were surrounded on all sides by ferocious barbarian tribes; they even walked through the wild desert in order to alienate such restless neighbors and create corridors with the help of which they could threaten them with attack. But this policy turned out to be the last straw of the internal collapse of the state; a few quiet years were enough for even the government to forget about the danger, leaving the cultural province as an easy prey and a tempting gift to the enemy.

When the formation of an empire is completed by the conquest and annexation of all rich and cultural provinces, the entire people begins to fall apart into only two categories: peaceful and rich people living within the borders of the empire, and poor, ferocious, predatory people, accustomed to raids and wars. Between the first and second, the relationship between sheep and wolves reigns; Naturally, they are hostile towards each other. Meanwhile, if a despotic empire were given the opportunity - in the absence of an external threat - to serenely continue to exist for an indefinite time, then until the corruption underlying its foundation was eliminated, this state would not show signs of the birth of a new life, the resurrection of freedom and political activities. The seeds sown by the despot lord will not germinate until they dry up; they must wither and lose strength under the weight of their own depravity - until the human spirit rises, until it bears the fruits that constitute the honor and happiness of human nature. Of course, even in times of greatest humiliation, not everything around freezes; but the remaining movements of the spirit do not in any way resemble its manifestations among free people: they represent either the agony of a nature crushed by human suffering, or attacks of confusion that engulf the armed servants of the prince, who, by plotting, assassinating and murdering, only plunge a civilian into even greater horror and despair .

People scattered across remote provinces, unarmed, unfamiliar with the noble feelings of unity and cohesion, weakened by conditions of devastation and eking out a miserable existence on the crumbs that remain after government extortion - these people are not capable, in these circumstances, of developing a spirit of unity, nor to carry out free association for the purpose of organizing self-defense. The victim is free to complain - and, without receiving favors from the government, he has the right to appeal to the compassion of his fellow citizens. But fellow citizens are also glad that they themselves have escaped the sad fate of the complainer: everyone takes care of himself, striving to snatch the share of pleasure available to him, fishing in the troubled waters of uncertainty and secrecy.

Commercial professions, requiring no other foundation than human egoism, and requiring no other incentive than the hope of making money and keeping their property intact, in the precarious conditions of slavery (under which it is dangerous to be rich) are doomed to disappear. Meanwhile, the poverty of the people and the suppression of commerce are aspects of despotism that are harmful to them. Where there are no more profits to exert a corrupting influence, or fears to moderate lusts, the spell of domination is broken, and the naked slave, having recovered from it, discovers with amazement that he is free. When the fence is broken, a vast expanse opens up in front of the herd, and it breaks free. Cultivated pasture does not attract him if there is access to desert plains. The sufferer willingly rushes to where the greedy hand of the government cannot reach him; to where even the humble and servile are able to remember that they are people; where the threatening tyrant is only one of his fellow tribesmen, who cannot take anything away from you - except perhaps life, and even that at the risk of losing his own.

Confirming what has been said, the fear of tyranny discouraged the inhabitants of many Eastern countries from settling down. Villagers leave their homes and go on wanderings; the population of the valleys flees to the mountains and, once they become easy-going, subsist on robbery and war with the former rulers. Such unrest, coupled with government arbitrariness, undermines the security of other settlements; but as the devastation that approaches on all sides worsens, people are again forced to seek unity, again become strong and self-confident individuals, capable of existing as members of society and taking up arms, which in ancient times turned a tiny tribe into the embryo of a great nation. Thanks to all this, the freed slave can again become a citizen and take up the development of commerce. Having reached the extreme stage of depravity, human nature enters the path of rebirth.

This is how the pictures of human life often change. People's sense of security and self-confidence prevent them from enjoying the fruits of prosperity; on the other hand, resolute and righteous behavior resists the vicissitudes of fate; people, finding themselves in a position where they have nothing to hope for except their own virtues, acquire the ability to achieve any advantage; when they are most inclined to rely on fate, it most often turns its back on them. In such a course of things, we tend to see a pattern: losing the desire to defend the interests of our country, we hide our own weakness and recklessness behind references to fatal coincidences. Human institutions do have a beginning and an end, but their durability is not something predestined. The internal disintegration of nations always occurs only due to the depravity of its members.

Sometimes we willingly admit this sin to our fellow tribesmen; but who and when was ready to admit it to themselves? It seems, however, that we are much more inclined to admit this sin to ourselves whenever we stop struggling with its consequences and begin to appeal to fate, while deep down each of us understands that we ourselves are its arbiter. Capable people who have true fortitude and value their dignity do not get lost in any situation; they are able to express themselves properly everywhere; they are the true instruments of providence aimed at the benefit of people; or, to put it differently, wherever they are, the state is destined for life and prosperity.