The Union of 1707 and the Scottish Enlightenment

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The Union of 1707 and the Scottish Enlightenment

Journal Title: Ruch Filozoficzny - Year 2018, Vol 74, Issue 3

Abstract

The Union of 1707 was a political act of enormous importance, but it was not limited to the decisions taken by English and Scottish statesmen. Between 1698 and 1707 more than 60 pamphlets were written by Scottish authors on various aspects of Scotland’s condition and its links with England. Their opinions deserve close attention on their own terms as they offer an opportunity to learn about the political, economic, social, religious and national ideas prevailing in Scotland in the early 18th century. These opinions also allow to address a question about the intellectual links between the debate that preceded the Union on the one hand and the Scottish Enlightenment on the other. Despite the fact that the pre-union debate lacked many themes that were of great importance in the later parts of the 18th century, such as philosophy, literature and the arts, the physical and natural sciences, there existed numerous intellectual links between early 18th century Scottish political writers and such important figures of the Scottish Enlightenment as David Hume, William Robertson and Adam Smith.

Authors and Affiliations

Paweł Hanczewski

Keywords

Union of 1707 Scottish Enlightenment intellectual links

EP ID EP392906
DOI 10.12775/RF.2018.024
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