THE EMERGENCE OF PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY IN 18TH CENTURY SCOTLAND By C3 Alistair John Sinclair C3 B.A. M. Phil. Ph.D Thesis Centre for Philosophical Inquiry University of Glasgow February 1998 Scotorum prae/ervida ingenia ProQuest Number: 13815600 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 13815600 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 3?|P^,|y ABSTRACT The Scottish Enlightenment in the eighteenth century came about because of the intensity of debate and discussion in the clubs and societies in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen in the early part of the century. In a highly disciplined and regulated club atmosphere, they posed questions and prepared papers which were thoroughly discussed and criticised. It is argued in this thesis that this intellectual activity amounted to philosophical inquiry as conducted today in the Centre of Philosophical Inquiry at Glasgow University by Dr. C. McCall. Briefly, philosophical inquiry consists of philosophising conducted in a group structure. Specific questions are inquired into by members of the group who state their agreements and disagreements with each other. In so doing, they form a community of inquiry to arrive at a deeper understanding of the questions posed but without necessarily reaching conclusive agreement about anything at the end of the inquiry. It is argued in this thesis: (1) That philosophical inquiry, in the broad sense of dialogue and debate within groups of individuals, was conducted in the clubs and societies of early 18th century Scotland. (2) That the period 1710 to 1740 saw an increasing intensity of dialogue and debate among educated young people in clubs and societies in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and this intensity brought about a change from a literary to a philosophical preoccupation in the most influential of the clubs and societies: for example, the Rankenian Club, the Glasgow Literary Society, and the Aberdeen Philosophical Society. (3) That this change to a philosophical preoccupation was enough to lay the foundations for the later philosophical, scientific, and literary achievements of the Scottish Enlightenment. (4) That the Enlightenment movement began to lose its momentum towards the end of the century because philosophical inquiry ceased to be a motive power when individualism and solitary literary pursuits gradually replaced the camaraderie of the early clubs and societies. Thus, the subject matter of this thesis examines the conditions which are necessary and sufficient for the production of works of genius such as the men of the Scottish Enlightenment produced later in the 18th century: men such as Lord Karnes, David Hume, Adam Smith, Thomas Reid, Adam Ferguson, Robert Burns, James Hutton (the founder of modern geology), and all the Scottish doctors, writers, artists, architects, engineers etc., who achieved world-wide eminence for their work at the time. i A SUMMARY OF CONTENTS February 1998 Page Nos. INTRODUCTION: 1. The Nature and Contents of this Thesis. 1 2. The Importance of Philosophical Inquiry in the Context of the Scottish Enlightenment 4 3. The Role of Dialogue and Debate in the Early Clubs and Societies 8 4. The Role of Instigators and Moderators 13 5. The Motivating Power of Self-Improvement 16 6. What Made the Emergence of Philosophical Inquiry Possible 18 7. The Significance of the Period 1710 to 1740 20 8. An Outline of the Contents of this Thesis 23 CHAPTER ONE: THE ETHOS OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT 1. The Widespread Nature of this Ethos. 26 2. The Evidence for this Ethos 30 3. The Cultural Background to the Important Scottish Philosophers 33 4. The Contrast between the English and Scottish Clubs 37 CHAPTER TWO: THE SPREAD OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT 1. The Emergence of Literary and Philosophical Clubs in Edinburgh: 1712 - 1740 44 2. The Emergence of Philosophical Inquiry in Glasgow: 1720 - 1740 63 3. A 1736 Precursor of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society 68 CHAPTER THREE: ’A MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT OF MINDS BY CONVERSATION’ 1. The Easy Club's 'Great Design'. 71 2. The Influence of Allan Ramsay in the Easy Club. 73 3. The Nature of the Improvement Sought by Easy Club Members. 76 4. Why the Members used Pseudonyms in their Meetings. 80 5. The Easiness' of the Easy Club. 82 6. The Wittiness of the Easy Club. 85 7. The Importance of Conversation in the Early Clubs 87 8. The Formation of Communities of Inquiry 89 9. The Extent to which the Easy Club was not Philosophical. 92 ii CHAPTER FOUR: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RANKENIAN CLUB 1. Putting it in its Place. 94 2. The Possible Content of the Club’s Proceedings 101 3. The Probable Influence of the Rankenian Club on the later Philosophical Societies in 18th Century Scotland. 106 4. The Use of Questions in Stimulating Dialogue and Debate 111 5. The Importance of Questioning in Promoting a Philosophical State of Mind 113 6. How Philosophical Inquiry Became Increasingly Down-to-Earth 115 7. The Relationship between Thought and Action 116 CHAPTER FIVE: DAVID HUME AND THE BORDERS NEXUS 1. The Nature and Origin of the Borders Nexus. 119 2. The Nine Letter Correspondence between Lord Karnes and Andrew Baxter. 124 3. The Pamphlet Debate between Robert Wallace and William Dudgeon. 128 4. The Pamphlet Debate between William Dudgeon and Andrew Baxter. 135 5. Andrew Baxter's Later Work. 141 6. The Possible Influence of Andrew Baxter on David Hume. 144 7. Lord Karnes and David Hume. 147 8. The Real Influence of Francis Hutcheson on Hume 148 9. The Effects of Writing on the Development of Debates 152 11. The Subsequent Influence of Lord Karnes on the Course of the Scottish Enlightenment 157 TABLES Table 1: Salient dates of Steele's periodicals and Hepburn'sTatler during 1711-12 47 Table 2: Letters exchanged between Lord Karnes and Andrew Baxter in 1723 124 Table 3: Pamphlets published by William Dudgeon and Robert Wallace - 1731-32 128 Table 4: Pamphlets written by William Dudgeon and Andrew Baxter - 1732-34 135 Table 5: Andrew Baxter's other works - published and unpublished 141 APPENDICES APPENDIX A - THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY 160 APPENDIX B - THE GENUINENESS OF THE EASY CLUB'S JOURNAL 162 APPENDIX C - AN ANALYSIS OF THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE EASY CLUB 164 APPENDIX D - A BRIEF LIFE OF JOHN FERGUS, SECRETARY OF THE EASY CLUB 166 APPENDIX E - THE 'LAWS' OF THE EASY CLUB - 1713 169 APPENDIX F - THE 'RULES' OF THE FAIR INTELLECTUAL CLUB - 1717 171 APPENDIX G - AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENTS OF THE EDINBURGH MISC. 174 APPENDIX H - THE FOUNDATION DATE OF THE RANKENIAN CLUB 177 APPENDIX I - THE MEMBERS OF THE RANKENIAN CLUB 178 APPENDIX J - THE KAMES - BAXTER CORRESPONDENCE - 1723 181 APPENDIX K - RECENTLY DISCOVERED LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS CONCERNING ANDREW BAXTER 192 APPENDIX L - A BRIEF LIFE OF WILLIAM DUDGEON (c. 1706 - 1743) 197 APPENDIX M - THOMAS REID'S MINUTES OF A PHILOSOPHICAL CLUB 1736' 200 iii BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. BOOKS AND PAPERS 205 2. PERIODICALS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS 212 3. PAMPHLETS 212 4. UNPUBLISHED LETTERS ETC. 213 iv INTRODUCTION A single specimen of the civilised human being may exist, I suppose, rather drearily alone, sufficient unto himself, and in himself valuable. But only when a number of civilised human beings come together docs the civilised man become civilising. It is a group of civilised human beings that is the nucleus of civilisation. Clive Bell.1 1. THE NATURE AND CONTENTS OF THIS THESIS. This thesis highlights hitherto unrecognised aspects concerning the origins of the Scottish Enlightenment. It draws attention to individuals, clubs, societies, pamphlets and books that have been either overlooked or not given the attention they deserve in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment. The following are examples of the original sources which have been consulted and brought to light in this thesis: > Attention is drawn in Chapter Two to the writings of Robert Hepburn of Bearford whose influence on the Edinburghliterati in the 1710s has been entirely neglected by recent scholars studying the origins of the Scottish Enlightenment The minutes of Allan Ramsay's Easy Club were published for the first time as recently as 1972 but have been generally overlooked by scholars even of Scottish literature.2 They have been the subject of only two academic papers, both of which involve Alexander Law as author or co-author, and he was himself the co-author of the volume of Ramsay's works in which the minutes were published The Easy Club is discussed in Chapters Two and Three and its membership is analysed in Appendix C. > Prior to the researches for this thesis, John Fergus, the secretary of the Easy Club and author of its remarkable minutes, was known only as a 'merchant' in Edinburgh. Enough information has now been gathered to compile a brief life of him, to be found in Appendix D > A volume of poems entitled theFxfinburgh Miscellany published in 1720 has been similarly overlooked in spite of the fact that the authors contributing to it cast 1 Clive Bell, Civilisation, (1928 - London: Penguin 1938), p 164 This book influenced Kenneth Clarke in his pioneering BBC television series,Civilisation , in 1969. This fact has been confirmed in an e-mail communication from Dr.