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Author Mills, R. J. W.

Title Religion and the science of human nature in the Scottish enlightenment / R. J. W. Mills
Published Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2024

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Description 1 online resource
Contents Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- 1 Introduction -- Religion and Precursors to the Scottish "Science of Man" -- References -- 2 Religion and the Start of the Science of Human Nature: Campbell, Turnbull and Hume -- George Turnbull on Religion and the "Moral Anatomy" of the Mind -- Archibald Campbell on Mythography and the Science of Man -- David Hume's Treatise and the "Science of Man" -- References -- 3 David Hume and the Emptiness of Natural Religion -- Religion, Imagination and the Passions -- The Psychology of Miracles
Religion's Relationship with Philosophy: Past and Future -- The Practical Consequences of Hume's Study of Religion -- References -- 4 Adam Smith on Religious Psychology in Society -- The Histories of Philosophy and of Physics -- The Psychology of Religion in the Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) -- Religious Sects and Social Stability in the Wealth of Nations -- The Decline and Fall of Medieval Catholicism -- References -- 5 Henry Home, Lord Kames on Mechanistic Human Nature -- Kames's Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion (1751)
The Sketches of the History of Man (1774) and the "Sense of Deity" -- Kames on the Improvement of Theology -- On the Character of Religious Worship -- Religion and Morality -- Allegory and Myth as Childish Fictions -- References -- 6 David Hume's "Natural History of Religion" (1757) -- Human Nature and the Lack of Universality -- The "Natural Progress" of Religion? -- References -- 7 William Robertson on Revelation and the Limits of Progress -- Robertson's Necessity of Revelation at the Time of Christ's Mission -- True Religion and the Necessity of Social Progress
Superstition's Role in Limiting of Progress: The History of America (1777) -- The Natural Progress of Religion and the Necessity of Revelation -- References -- 8 Adam Ferguson, Stoicism and the Individual Alone -- Ferguson and the Naturalness of Religion -- Ferguson on the Link Between Religion, Happiness and Society -- The Primacy of Theism and the Power of Superstition -- References -- 9 George Campbell on Miracles and the Weakness of Hume's "Science of Man" -- References -- 10 John Gregory on Human Nature, Happiness and Religious Devotion
Speculative Theology and Effective Affective Preaching -- Anti-Scepticism -- References -- 11 James Dunbar on Climate and Civil Religion -- References -- 12 James Burnett, Lord Monboddo on Egyptian Daemons -- Monboddo's Curious "History of Man" -- Monboddo's Two Accounts of Religion -- References -- 13 The Radicalism of James Hutton -- Philosophers and the Science of Religion -- Hutton on the Natural Progress of Religion -- The Alignment of "Christianity" and Philosophy -- References -- 14 Dugald Stewart, Religion and the End of the "Science of Human Nature" -- References -- 15 Conclusion
Summary Robin Mills new book is a comprehensive and insightful account of the academic study of religion by philosophers in the Scottish Enlightenment. It is especially valuable for its attention to figures who are not well known today, but who were influential in the eighteenth century." Dr James Foster, University of Sioux Falls Religion and Science are often seen as hostile concepts, but as the example of the Scottish Enlightenment shows, this is not necessarily the case. In Robin Mills new book he takes us beyond the headline of David Humes alleged atheism and explores the enlightened Scottish conversation about religion. In doing so he shows how the Scottish Enlightenment sought to apply an empirically based social theory to explain religion and its evolution, and the impact this had on the religious views of this significant group of thinkers. It sheds new light on an important moment in intellectual history. Dr Craig Smith, University of Glasgow Absorbing and thoughtful, Robin Millss book on the natural history of religion in the Scottish Enlightenment fills a conspicuous gap in the history of ideas. With remarkable erudition and no little finesse, he brings home the originality and distinctiveness of the Scottish endeavour to produce a naturalistic account of religion in the second half of the eighteenth century. What is particularly refreshing about Millss study, however, is his unfashionable insistence that this venture represented a rupture with previous approaches to the study of religion, inaugurating a recognisably modern outlook. Dr Niall OFlaherty, Kings College London There has been a lot of scholarly interest in the Scottish Enlightenments thinking on religion, but surprisingly little has been written on the links between this writing and the Scots famous Science of Man. In this excellent volume Robin Mills sets out to remedy this by offering a survey of the social scientific examination of religion by a range of key Scottish thinkers of the time. Clear, concise, and elegantly written, it is a welcome addition to the literature. Craig Smith, Professor of the History of Political Thought, The University of Glasgow, UK This book examines how enlightened Scottish social theorists c.1740 to c.1800 understood the origin and development of religion. Challenging scholarly disregard for the topic, it shows how most prominent thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment thought deeply about the relationship between religion, human nature and historical change. The Scots viewed this relationship as an important strand within the study of the 'science of human nature' and the 'history of man.' The fruits of this investigation were a sophisticated and innovative account of religious change that is characterized by a striking modernity and naturalism, even by the more devout theorists. The views of the literati surveyed here need to be incorporated into our larger histories of the 'science of religion' as much as they do into our understanding of the social theory of the Scottish Enlightenment. R. J. W. Mills is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Intellectual History, University of St Andrews, UK.
Bibliography References
Notes Print version record
Subject Philosophy, Scottish -- 18th century.
Philosophy and religion -- Scotland -- History -- 18th century
Philosophy and science -- Scotland -- History -- 18th century
Enlightenment -- Scotland
Genre/Form Electronic books
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9783031490316
3031490312