Scottish Philosophy in America

1. Scottish Philosophy in America Elmer H. Duncan Baylor University DiscePati

2. Common Sense Philosophy!

3. Scotland is an ancient land…The Ring of Brodgar!

4. Fascinating Country- unique Customs

5. Unique? The Rosslyn Chapel…

6. The Apprentice Pillar !! And there are more amazing things, maize, for example-in the 1450s!? Isn’t this amazing? And how about this?? • “Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, • Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie, • Each Baron, for a sable shroud, • Sheathed in his iron panoply… • There are twenty of Roslin's barons bold • Lie buried within that proud chapelle; • Each one the holy vault doth hold- • But the sea holds lovely Rosabelle!” Scott. Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie, Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie, Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie, Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie, Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie, Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie, Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie, Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie, Each Baron, for a sable shroud, Each Baron, for a sable shroud, Each Baron, for a sable shroud, Each Baron, for a sable shroud, Each Baron, for a sable shroud, Each Baron, for a sable shroud, Each Baron, for a sable shroud, Each Baron, for a sable shroud, - - - - - - - - Sheathed in his iron panoply Sheathed in his iron panoply Sheathed in his iron panoply Sheathed in his iron panoply Sheathed in his iron panoply Sheathed in his iron panoply Sheathed in his iron panoply Sheathed in his iron panoply

7. And they honor their philosophers!!

8. Well, sometimes they do…

9. Andrew Duncan, M. D. The David Hume Tower—but what is more interesting is what is behind the Tower!

10. Klein abermein…

11. Everywhere-even Baylor!!

12. One More Example: Ouachita College, 1888-1889

13. Common Sense “Lite”

14. Scottish Philosophy in AmericaContents: • John Witherspoon • Samuel Stanhope Smith • Charles Hodge • Lyman H. Atwater • Alexander Campbell • Francis Bowen • Orestes Brownson • Nathaniel Taylor • Noah Porter • James Henley Thornwell • James McCosh

15. “We Hold these Truths to be Self- Evident…” (The Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States)

16. Where did Jefferson learn to write like that?? • He learned from a Scot, “The Immortal Small,” who used William Duncan’s “Logick” as his text, though “Lord Kaims” was his favorite Philosopher. • Ben Franklin made two tours of Scotland. • Med student Benjamin Rush persuaded John Witherspoon to come to the “Colonies” • James Wilson, a Scot, did major work on our American Constitution, and served on our first Supreme Court. • James Madison, Alexander Hamilton (and others) made use of Scottish thought in their arguments in what became known as the “Federalist Papers” • …and the list goes on…world without end… • Am I bold enough to suggest we may need another book, to be titled, “The ‘Founding Fathers, and Scottish thought?” • Perhaps…

17. Why I Love Reid so!!"And taking all these propositions together, I think, I am conscious, every thing that thinks, exists, I exist; would not every sober man form the same opinion of the man who seriously doubted any one of them? And if he was his friend, would he not hope for his cure from physic and good regimen, rather than from metaphysic and logic?" {Reid, Thomas, An Enquiry Into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970, p. 11}

18. This is Reid, portrait by SirHenry Raeburn He was already quite old when this portrait was done. But he was probably the best known philosopher on two continents, at the time of his greatest fame. Certainly, he was the most respected philosopher in America, from colonial times to the late 1860s.

19. “…pray which is the road to Edinburgh?”

20. “Ask him how to get to Glamis Castle.” Why ask him? Because he did such a great job of getting us to Edinburgh. Maybe that’s all he knows. We would never say that. But if Hume were right, we should. Natural Theology. Pp.92-93.

21. This is an attractive young lady who also has a high moral character. No, you don’t. This reply seems, at best, non-responsive, at worst, mere nonsense. But when I was a grad student back in the late 1950s or early 1960s, we thought this was so clever as a response to such “Emotivists” as A. J. Ayer—but Reid had said much the same 200 years ago…and furthermore…

22. “I like pornography, but do not approve of it.” {This is not the picture I wanted to use, but…} Does the sentence above make sense, or is it a self-contradiction? Ayer-and perhaps Hume- would say it does not make sense… Reid would say it does-and surely he’s right-because “That Moral Approbation Implies a Real Judgment,” while liking or enjoying does not. See Chapter VII of Essay V of Reid’s Active Powers. Besides, I like Sarah Palin!

23. Mia Culpa!??!

24. What? Not Boyce, but Bayes!?! Thomas Bayes (1702-’61) Here is a mistake to dream on !! In later editions of his ethics book, Price had praise for Reid; was it mutual? Reid had a lifelong interest in Mathematics (his first published essay was on Math); how much did he know about Bayes and Bayesian probability theory? What are the two classical sources of probability theory??

25. “That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona.” Johnson.