Beginning with Sir William Hamilton’s revitalisation of philosophy in Scotland in the 1830s, Gordon Graham takes up the theme of George Davie’s The Democratic Intellect and explores a century of debates surrounding the identity and continuity of the Scottish philosophical tradition. Graham identifies a host of once-prominent but now neglected thinkers - such as Alexander Bain, J. F. Ferrier, Thomas Carlyle, Alexander Campbell Fraser, John Tulloch, Henry Jones, Henry Calderwood, David Ritchie and Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison - whose reactions to Hume and Reid stimulated new currents of ideas. He concludes by considering the relation between the Scottish philosophical tradition and the 20th-century philosopher John Macmurray.

In every respect this book is a far more careful consideration of Scottish Philosophy after the Enlightenment than its forerunners. James McCosh, Henry Laurie, and George Davie all sketched versions of the history of this period, but none of them really focussed on the ideas in as clear-eyed a fashion as Gordon Graham. -- Craig Smith * British Journal of the History of Philosophy *
Gordon Graham has played a significant role in the promotion and development of the history of Scottish Philosophy. Therefore, a collection of his essays on 19th Century Scottish Philosophy that demonstrates the complexity and interest of this period is very welcome. -- Douglas McDermid, Trent University
Gordon Graham has played a significant role in the promotion and development of the history of Scottish Philosophy. Therefore, a collection of his essays on 19th Century Scottish Philosophy that demonstrates the complexity and interest of this period is very welcome. -- Jennifer J Keefe, University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Graham has given us an important book,written in a clear and accessible style, vigorous in its analysis, and convincing in its interpretations. The breadth of coverage is impressive, and while Graham’s approach is one of text-based analysis, he provides attention to the larger cultural and religious context. -- Stewart J. Brown * Scottish Church History *
Graham has given us an important book, written in a clear and accessible style, vigorous in its analysis, and convincing in its interpretations. The breadth of coverage is impressive, and while Graham’s approach is one of text-based analysis, he provides attention to the larger cultural and religious context. -- Stewart J. Brown * Scottish Church History *

Gordon Graham is Director of the Edinburgh Sacred Arts Festival. He previously taught philosophy at the University of St Andrews, University of Aberdeen, and Princeton Theological Seminary. The author of twenty books on a wide range of subjects in aesthetics, politics and moral philosophy, he has also published extensively on the Scottish philosophical tradition. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and winner of an Eighteenth Century Scottish Studies Society Lifetime Achievement Award, he was founding editor of the Journal of Scottish Philosophy and general editor of the Oxford History of Scottish Philosophy. His books include Scottish Philosophy after the Enlightenment (Edinburgh University Press, 2022).