National Galleries of Scotland

One of the last of the great Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, Dugald Stewart was educated at Edinburgh and Glasgow, where he became the most important disciple of Thomas Reid. Stewart started his academic career as professor of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, a post he shared with his father, and went on to hold the chair of moral philosophy for over thirty years. His teaching was based on the Scottish intellectual tradition of ‘common sense’ philosophy, a belief system that was advocated by his former teacher Reid. An eloquent and influential lecturer and author, Stewart’s reputation attracted students from England, mainland Europe and America. Famous pupils included the founders of the ‘Edinburgh Review’, Francis Horner and Francis Jeffrey, and Sir Walter Scott.