Essays on David Hume, Medical Men and the Scottish Enlightenment: 'Industry, Knowledge and Humanity'

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Routledge, May 13, 2016 - History - 316 pages
The Scottish Enlightenment was a period of intellectual and scientific progress, in a country previously considered to be marginal to the European intellectual scene. Yet the enlightenment was not about politeness or civic humanism, but something more basic - the making of an improved society which could compete in every way in a rapidly changing world. David Hume, writing in 1752, commented that 'industry, knowledge and humanity are linked together by an indissoluble chain'. Collectively this volume of essays embraces many of the topics which Hume included under 'industry, knowledge and humanity': from the European Enlightenment and the Scots relation to it, to Scottish social history and its relation to religion, science and medicine. Overarching themes of what it meant to be enlightened in the eighteenth century are considered alongside more specific studies of notable figures of the period, such as Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, and David Hume, and the training and number of Scottish medical students. Together, the volume provides an opportunity to step back and reconsider the Scottish Enlightenment in its broader context and to consider what new directions this field of study might take.
 

Contents

List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
How Many Scots Were Enlightened?
What Did EighteenthCentury Scottish Students Read?
David Hume 26 April 1711
Part II
Humes Histories
A Note on Hume and Political Economy
Numbering the Medics
What is to be Done About the Scottish Enlightenment?
Select Bibliography
Indices
Copyright

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About the author (2016)

Roger L. Emerson is Emeritus Professor of History, University of Western Ontario, Canada.

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