NATURAL RIGHTS ON THE THRESHOLD
OF THE SCOTTISH ENLIGHTENMENT
NATURAL LAW AND
ENLIGHTENMENT CLASSICS
Knud Haakonssen
General Editor
This book is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a foundation established to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.
The cuneiform inscription that serves as our logo and as a design element in Liberty Fund books is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash.
© 2002 by Liberty Fund, Inc.
Cover art: Glasgow College as it appeared in 1693, taken from John Slezer, Theatrum Scotiae (1693), reproduced courtesy of the Department of Special Collections, Glasgow University Library
This eBook edition published in 2013.
eBook ISBNs:
Kindle 978-1-61487-036-4
E-PUB 978-1-61487-184-2
CONTENTS
1. On Moral Philosophy, or the Science of Natural Jurisprudence
2. On Lasting Happiness and the Divine Law
3. On Human Action in the Divine Court
8. On Duty to Others, or Sociability
9. Natural Rights and Agreements
11. Contracts and Quasi Contracts
12. Dissolution of Obligations
13. The State of Nature
14. On the Rights of Husbands and Wives
15. On the Rights of Parents and Children
16. On the Rights of Masters and Servants
17. On the Origin of Civil Society, or the Original Contract
18. On the Constitution of Civil Government
19. On the Limits of Sovereign Power and the Right of Resistance
20. On Conquest and Patrimonial Kingdoms
21. On the Rights of Citizens
22. On the Rights of War and Peace
23. Appendix: The Rights and Duties of Men and Citizens
II. Natural Theology
Synopsis of Natural Theology
(Edinburgh, 1729)
Contents
Preface: Natural Theology and the Foundations of Morals
On the Scope of Natural Theology
1. On the Existence of God
2. On the Attributes of God and First, on the Incommunicable Attributes
3. On the Communicable Attributes of God
4. On the Divine Operations, or Actions Involving External Objects
III. Logic A Short Introduction to Logic
Editorial Note
Preface
A Short Introduction to Logic
1. On Apprehension
2. On Judgment in General, and on Immediate Judgment in Particular
3. On Mediate Judgment or Discourse
4. On Method, and Logical Practice
IV. Early Writings: Philosophical Theses
1. Philosophical Theses, 1699
2. Philosophical Theses, 1707
V. Gershom Carmichael’s Account of His Teaching Method
Bibliography
Index
It is a remarkable feature of the enlightenment in eighteenth-century Scotland that many of the most distinguished moral philosophers of that era assigned to their students texts based upon the writings of the early modern natural jurists. The works of Grotius, Pufendorf, and Locke were commented upon, supplemented, annotated, and adapted for the use of students at the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen—only St. Andrews seems to have been the exception—from the end of the seventeenth century to the late eighteenth century. The professors who lectured on natural rights theories included Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, and Thomas Reid at the University of Glasgow; William Law, William Scott, John Pringle, and James Balfour at the University of Edinburgh; and George Turnbull and David Verner