History of the Philosophy Department
Edinburgh has a distinguished place in the history of philosophy, having been home to David Hume and Adam Smith. Philosophy has been taught at the university since its foundation in 1583. The department counts among its past scholars such leading figures as Adam Ferguson, Dugald Stewart, Sir William Hamilton, A. E. Taylor, Norman Kemp Smith, John Macmurray and W.H. Walsh.
The University of Edinburgh was originally the "College of Edinburgh" or "The Town's College" founded in 1583 by the Town Council of Edinburgh. Professorships were not generally instituted until 1708. Between 1583 and that date the Regent system prevailed. The Regents of Philosophy taught in rotation the four classes in the curriculum of Arts, the "Bajans", the "Semi-Bajans" the "Bachelors" and the "Magistrands", as the students of the first, second, third, and fourth year were respectively styled. Each Regent therefore taught every subject in the curriculum--the Regent of Humanity being subordinate to the Regent of Philosophy, and being employed as a tutor in Classics for unmatriculated students.
In 1708 the system was changed and separate Professors for Latin, Greek, Logic and Metaphysics, Moral Philosophy and Natural Philosophy were substituted for the Regents. A Professorship in Mathematics had previously existed. By the Universities Act of 1858, the patronage of the Chairs, previously in the gift of the Town Council, was transferred to seven Curators of Patronage. (This passage is excerpted from old copies of the Edinburgh University Calendar).
Chair incumbents
Chair of Moral Philosophy
| Dates | Name |
|---|---|
| 1708 | William Law |
| 1729 | William Scott |
| 1734-1745 | John Pringle |
| 1745-1754 | William Cleghorn (David Hume unsuccessful) |
| 1754-1764 | James Balfour |
| 1764-1785 | Adam Ferguson |
| 1785-1820 | Dugald Stewart |
| 1810-1820 | Thomas Brown (conjoint professor) |
| 1820-1851 | John Wilson (wrote journalism as 'Christopher North') |
| 1853 | P.C. McDougall |
| 1868 | Henry Calderwood |
| 1898 | James Seth |
| 1924-1941 | Alfred Edward Taylor (performed duties till 1944) |
| 1944-1957 | John Macmurray |
| 1959 | Winston Herbert Frederick Barnes |
| 1964-1973 | Harry Burrows Acton |
| 1975-1996 | Ronald Hepburn |
| 1999-2004 | Rae Langton |
Chair of Logic and Metaphysics
| Dates | Name |
|---|---|
| 1708 | Colin Drummond |
| 1730 | John Stevenson |
| 1774 | John Bruce |
| 1786 | James Finlayson |
| 1808 | David Ritchie |
| 1836-1856 | William Hamilton |
| 1856 | Alexander Campbell Fraser |
| 1891-1919 | Andrew Seth (from 1898 known as 'Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison') |
| 1919-1945 | Norman Kemp Smith |
| 1945-1960 | Arthur David Ritchie |
| 1960-1976 | William Henry Walsh |
| 1979-1989 | Timothy Sprigge |
| 1995-2000 | Timothy Williamson |
| 2000-2003 | Huw Price |
| 2004- | Andy Clark |