Dugald Stewart


1753 - 1828

Dugald Stewart
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

Dugald Stewart

Philosopher. Born in Edinburgh, and educated at the University of Glasgow under Thomas Reid (1710-96). He shared the Chair of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh with his father between 1775 and 1785, then succeeding Adam Ferguson (1723 - 1816) to the Chair of Moral Philosophy. Published "Outlines of Moral Philosophy". A follower of the 'Common-Sense' philosophy, he systematised the doctrine of the Scottish School, allowing full share to psychological considerations.

It was Stewart who first compared the city of Edinburgh to Athens, giving rise to its soubriquet as the Athens of the North. He was a founding fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783.

Stewart is buried in Edinburgh's Canongate Kirkyard. There is a monument dedicated to his memory on Calton Hill (1831) and the new home of the Philosophy department at the University of Edinburgh was named in his honour in 2007.


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