Thomas Reid (1710-1796)
Alongside Francis Hutcheson and Adam Smith, Thomas Reid was one of the most significant Enlightenment thinkers in Glasgow. Born in Strachan, Kincardineshire, Reid became involved with Aberdeen’s two universities. He matriculated at Marischal College in 1723 and graduated MA in 1726.
Marischal was Aberdeen’s second higher education institution; founded in 1593. The older university, King’s College, was founded in 1495, and it was here that Reid was elected regent in arts in 1751. Like Glasgow’s, Aberdeen’s Enlightenment has been seen as supplementary to the Edinburgh-centric Scottish Enlightenment in the majority of scholarly works. It should be noted that Reid helped form the Aberdeen Philosophical Society in 1758, which became an important meeting point for theories and ideas of Aberdeen’s two Colleges.
His first major publication was the Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense (1764), the title of which denotes the best-remembered aspect of Reid’s legacy: the ‘common-sense’ school of philosophy. Much of this was a reaction to David Hume’s well-known sceptical philosophies which were at the forefront of Scotland’s perceived secular Enlightenment.
In the same year Reid’s work was printed, he succeeded Adam Smith’s chair in Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow; therefore introducing this new Enlightenment theory to the west of Scotland. Building on Smith’s theories, Reid’s can be read as part of the Glasgow contribution, invigorating debate across Europe. As with many of Glasgow’s Enlightenment figures, Reid was opposed to slavery. After a long and distinguished teaching career, Reid withdrew from his University role and had two other major philosophical works published: Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (1785) and Essays on the Active Power of Man (1788).