亞當．佛格森的文明觀：以斯巴達、韃靼與北美原住民為例

Adam Ferguson on Civilization: Sparta, Tartars, and Native Americans in Historical Perspective

本文重新審視佛格森的文明理論。過往研究主要將他歸類為共和主義者，或商業社會的批評者，尚未完整把握其思想中的豐富內涵。透過分析佛格森如何運用斯巴達、韃靼與北美原住民的比較研究來思考文明發展，本文不僅對當前學界將其定位為馬基雅維利主義傳統繼承者的觀點提出修正，也擴展了既有研究過於聚焦其對斯巴達關注的研究範疇。
佛格森的文明理論展現了獨特的辯證思維。他透過對不同文明形態的創造性重構，發展出一套既肯定商業社會進步又試圖克服其缺陷的改革方案。他的比較研究揭示了各種文明形態的優劣：斯巴達的嚴格制度維護了公民美德但抑制個人自由，韃靼人保有戰士精神但缺乏穩定政治制度，北美原住民具有強大凝聚力但難以應對外部威脅。在此基礎上，佛格森提出包括民兵制度在內的具體建議，試圖在商業社會框架下重建公民美德。
佛格森的文明比較不僅是一種理論思辨，更反映了十八世紀商業社會的深刻困境。他主張社會進步不能僅以經濟發展為指標，還必須兼顧公民德性的培養與政治生活的完善。透過對佛格森文明理論的重新解讀，本文深化了對十八世紀蘇格蘭啟蒙運動的理解，也為商業社會中公民美德的培養、個人自由與集體利益的平衡等基本政治問題，提供了新的思考視角。

This article reexamines Ferguson's theory of civilization. While previous studies have primarily characterized him as either a republican theorist or a critic of commercial society, they have not fully grasped the richness of his thought. Through analyzing how Ferguson employed comparative studies of Sparta, Tartars, and Native Americans to reflect on civilizational development, the article revises the current academic positioning of Ferguson as an inheritor of the Machiavellian tradition and expands beyond existing research that overly focuses on his attention to Sparta.
Ferguson's theory of civilization demonstrates a unique dialectical thinking. Through his creative reconstruction of different civilizational forms, he developed a reform proposal that both affirmed the progress of commercial society while attempting to overcome its deficiencies. His comparative study revealed the strengths and weaknesses of various civilizational forms: Sparta's strict institutions preserved civic virtue but suppressed individual liberty; the Tartars maintained a warrior spirit but lacked stable political institutions; Native Americans possessed strong social cohesion but struggled to address external threats. Based on these observations, Ferguson proposed specific recommendations, including a militia system, attempting to rebuild civic virtue within the framework of commercial society.
Ferguson's civilizational comparisons were not merely theoretical speculation but reflected the profound dilemmas of eighteenth-century commercial society. He argued that social progress could not be measured by economic development alone but must also consider the cultivation of civic virtue and the perfection of political life. Through a reinterpretation of Ferguson's theory of civilization, the article deepens our understanding of the Scottish Enlightenment and provides new perspectives on fundamental political questions concerning the cultivation of civic virtue and the balance between individual liberty and collective interests in commercial society.