Moral Philosophy
The Chair of Moral Philosophy formed part of the Faculty of Arts when it was established as a distinct entity in 1708. The first Professor, William Law, had previously been one of the Regents.
Professors of Moral Philosophy
Chair of Moral Philosophy
William Law of Elvinston, 1708-
William Scott, Secundus, 1729-
John Pringle, 1734-
William Cleghorn (1718-1754), 1745-1754
James Balfour, 1754-
Adam Ferguson, 1764-
Dugald Stewart, 1785-
Thomas Brown, 1810-
John Wilson, 1820
Patrick Campbell MacDougall, 1853-
Henry Calderwood, 1868
James Seth, 1898
Alfred Edward Taylor, 1924-1941
John Macmurray, 1944-1957
Winston Herbert Frederick Barnes, 1959 -
Harry Burrows Acton, 1964-1973
Ronald Hepburn, 1975-1996
Rae Langton, 1999-2004
Other People
David Hume (1711-1776): a student at the University between 1722 and 1726, he was passed over for the Chair of Ethical and Pneumatical Philosophy (Moral Philosophy), in 1745, on grounds of atheism.
Adam Smith