Introduction to Scottish Philosophy

1. Medieval Scottish Philosophy - Michael Scot and the Toledo connection; Duns Scotus on the employment of philosophy in a theological context.

2. The Scottish Renaissance and Reformation - John Ireland's Mirror of Wisdom; the importance of John Mair.

3. The Enlightenment (1) - The origins of the Scottish Enlightenment, and David Hume's science of man.

4. The Enlightenment (2) - Enlightenment social theory; Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations and Theory of Moral Sentiment.

5. Philosophical Walking Tour - A walking tour of some of the key sights in central Edinburgh related to 18th and 19th-century Scottish thought.

6. Scottish Philosophy in the 19th and 20th centuries - The importance of James Ferrier; Davie's Democratic Intellect.

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Outline the arguments of representative thinkers such as Duns Scotus, Ireland, Hume, Ferrier and Davie;

• Distinguish between medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment, and 19th/20th-century philosophy;

• Explain the wider social and cultural significance of Scottish philosophy.

• Scotus, John Duns, 1987. Philosophical Writings. Translated from Latin by Allan Wolter, O.F.M. Indianapolis: Hackett.

• Irlandia, Johannes de. 1965. The Meroure of Wysdome. Edinburgh: Blackwood.

• Broadie, Alexander. ed., 1997. The Scottish Enlightenment – An Anthology. Edinburgh: Canongate.

• Davie, George. 1961. The Democratic Intellect – Scotland and her Universities in the Nineteenth Century. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.