The Scotch Metaphysics: A century of Enlightenment in Scotland

In the Scottish universities, an Enlightenment in philosophy which George III dubbed ‘the Scotch metaphysics’ continued unabated from the eighteenth and throughout the nineteenth centuries. This book explores how different the way of doing philosophy in Scotland was during this period by comparison with how it was pursued in England. In Scotland, as on the continent of Europe, philosophy was a central subject in the universities, whereas in England, except for a perfunctory application in faculties of divinity, it flourished only outside the walls of the academy. Focusing on the works of Thomas Reid, Dugald Stewart, Sir William Hamilton, Thomas Brown and James Frederick Ferrier, this book offers a definitive account of an important philosophical movement, and represents a ground-breaking contribution to scholarship in the area. Essential reading for philosophers or anyone with an interest in the history of philosophical thought.