The 18th Century Age of Enlightenment in Scotland is universally acknowledged as a cultural phenomenon of international significance, and philosophy equally widely regarded as central to it. In point of fact, the expression ‘Scottish Philosophy’ only came into existence in 1875 with a book of that title by James McCosh, and the term ‘Scottish Enlightenment’ made an even later appearance (in 1904). Nevertheless, the two terms serve to identify an astonishing ferment of intellectual activity in 18th century Scotland, and a brilliant array of philosophers and thinkers. Chief among these, after Hutcheson, were George Turnbull, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, Hugh Blair, William Robertson and of course, David Hume. Hume apart, all these figures were university teachers who also actively contributed to the intellectual inquiries of their time. Most of them were also clergymen. This second fact made the Scottish Age of Enlightenment singularly different from its cultural counterparts in France and Germany, where ‘enlightenment’ was almost synonymous with the rejection of religion. By contrast, Hutcheson, Reid, Campbell, Robertson and Blair were highly respected figures in both the academy and the church, combining a commitment to the Christian religion with serious engagement in the newest intellectual inquiries. These inquiries, to which Hume was also major contributor, were all shaped by a single aspiration – a science of human nature. It was the aim of all these thinkers to make advances in the human sciences equivalent to those that had been made in the natural sciences, and to do so by deploying the very same methods, namely the scientific methodology of Francis Bacon and Sir Isaac Newton
While the Romans may not have contributed as much to the field of philosophy as the ancient Greeks, they were able to expand on many previously existing schools of thought. One of these areas is known as Stoicism.
