Scottish Philosophy: Selected Writings, 1690-1960

by Gordon Graham (editor)

The fame of thinkers such as David Hume, Adam Smith and Thomas Reid has led to philosophy being widely acknowledged as the jewel in the intellectual crown of the Scottish Enlightenment. But the Scottish tradition of philosophy extends much further than the 18th century. Its origins are to be found in the Middle Ages when Scotland's ancient universities were founded, and its central themes continued to be explored well into the twentieth century. This collection of readings, the first of its kind, has been chosen with a view to displaying the variety, richness and strength of the Scottish philosophical tradition. Beginning with the Philosophical Theses of Gershom Carmichael, the first person in Scotland to hold a University Chair expressly devoted to philosophy, the extracts offer readers an entry to the examination of topics as diverse as the nature of laughter, the possibility of miracles, and the foundations of psychology.

300 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

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).