David Hume is the most famous philosopher of the Scottish Enlightenment. Yet his prominence in the history of philosophy has had the unhappy effect of overshadowing some of the most insightful critics amongst his contemporaries. This book aims to restore the philosophical credentials of a remarkable set of eighteenth-century philosophers based in Aberdeen’s two university colleges. In their own time, Thomas Reid, George Campbell, Alexander Gerard and James Beattie provided compelling counters to the intellectual dominance of Hume’s Edinburgh. Though they are now largely neglected, all four prove to be philosophers of striking critical acumen. Their work can still cast fresh light on Hume’s influential contribution to the enduring philosophical questions of morality, religion, aesthetics and politics.
Gordon Graham is Director of the Edinburgh Sacred Arts Festival. He previously taught philosophy at the University of St Andrews, University of Aberdeen, and Princeton Theological Seminary. The author of twenty books on a wide range of subjects in aesthetics, politics and moral philosophy, he has also published extensively on the Scottish philosophical tradition. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and winner of an Eighteenth Century Scottish Studies Society Lifetime Achievement Award, he was founding editor of the Journal of Scottish Philosophy and general editor of the Oxford History of Scottish Philosophy. His books include Scottish Philosophy after the Enlightenment (Edinburgh University Press, 2022).
List of Abbreviations1. The Aberdeen ‘Wise Club’ and the ‘Ingenious’ Hume2. Hume and Reid: Moral Philosophy3. Hume and Campbell: Rhetoric and Miracles4. Hume and Gerard: Taste and Genius5. Hume and Beattie: Racism and Common Sense6. Combining Science with PietyBibliographyIndex
Gordon Graham's David Hume and the Aberdeen Philosophers explores Hume's intellectual exchanges with his Aberdeen critics. This engaging study deepens our understanding of Hume’s reception in his own time, the rich philosophical diversity of the Scottish Enlightenment, and the enduring debates in epistemology, metaphysics, morality, aesthetics, social philosophy, and religion.
Tamás Demeter, Budapest) Demeter, Tamas (Professor and Head of Philosophy of Science Department, Institute of Philosophy, Research Centre for the Humanities
Tamás Demeter, Budapest) Demeter, Tamas (Professor and Head of Philosophy of Science Department, Institute of Philosophy, Research Centre for the Humanities
Maria Pia Paganelli, Dennis C. Rasmussen, Craig Smith, Texas) Paganelli, Maria Pia (Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, Trinity University, San Antonio, Tufts University) Rasmussen, Dennis C. (Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Glasgow) Smith, Craig (Professor of the History of Political Thought, Dennis C Rasmussen
Tamás Demeter, Budapest) Demeter, Tamas (Professor and Head of Philosophy of Science Department, Institute of Philosophy, Research Centre for the Humanities
Tamás Demeter, Budapest) Demeter, Tamas (Professor and Head of Philosophy of Science Department, Institute of Philosophy, Research Centre for the Humanities
Ian Stewart, Max Skjönsberg, University of Edinburgh) Stewart, Ian (Associate Lecturer in European Intellectual History, University of Florida) Skjonsberg, Max (Assistant Professor of Humanities in the Hamilton Center
Maria Pia Paganelli, Dennis C. Rasmussen, Craig Smith, Texas) Paganelli, Maria Pia (Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, Trinity University, San Antonio, Tufts University) Rasmussen, Dennis C. (Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Glasgow) Smith, Craig (Professor of the History of Political Thought, Dennis C Rasmussen