Article ID: CBB835437196

The Reception of ‘That Bigoted Silly Fellow’ James Beattie's Essay on Truth in Britain 1770–1830 (2015)

unapi

This article examines the Scottish philosopher James Beattie's (1735–1803) controversial work of moral philosophy An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth (1770), noted for its pugnacious attack on the sceptical philosophy of David Hume. Usually treated only as an ephemeral success in the early 1770s, the Essay actually had two distinct periods of enormous popularity that account for its contemporary significance in the period between 1770 and 1830. The prominence of the Essay is demonstrated by its widespread positive reception, evinced in both published and private responses, in both England and Scotland, by the high estimation in which it was held within pedagogical circles as an anti-sceptical philosophical primer, and by its continual use as a textbook in both university and dissenting academy logic and moral philosophy classes. In these senses, Beattie's Essay was arguably the most significant work of the Common Sense School of Scottish philosophy.

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Authors & Contributors
Trigg, Stephanie
Read, Richard
Barclay, Katie
Tarantino, Giovanni
Archer-Parré, Caroline
Mark Neuendorf
Concepts
Philosophy
Skepticism
Reason
Moral philosophy
Newtonianism
Philosophy of science
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
Enlightenment
17th century
20th century
20th century, early
Places
Scotland
England
Birmingham (England)
Great Britain
Institutions
Aberdeen University
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