Scottish philosophy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

This is a remarkable collection of essays. The contributors give ample evidence of the vigour and dynamism of philosophical debate in Scotland during the last two centuries. They also show how much of it was concerned with the impact of German Idealism on the philosophical tradition of the Scottish Enlightenment. Consider, for example, Dixon's analysis of Thomas Brown's contribution to philosophy and his engagement with Reid's position; Graham's ‘[r]e-examination’ (p. 47) of William Hamilton's reading of Kant, Cousin and Schelling in relation to the theory of Common Sense; Boucher's thorough account of James Frederick Ferrier's attempt to free himself from Scottish Common Sense philosophy and his position as a ‘more sceptical’ idealist than Hegel (p. 160). The uneasy relationship between Scottish philosophy and German Idealism is demonstrated further by Boucher who reminds us of Edward Caird's preference for Kant over Hegel (p. 165)