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 (d. 1729), 1708-
William Scott, Secundus, 1729-
Sir John Pringle (1707-1782), 1734-1745
William Cleghorn (1718-1754), 1745-1754
James Balfour (1705-1795), 1754-1764
Adam Ferguson (1723-1816), 1764-1785
Dugald Stewart (1753-1828), 1785-1820
Thomas Brown (1778-1820), 1810-1820
conjoint with previous
John Wilson (1785-1854), 1820-1851
Patrick Campbell MacDougall (1806-1867), 1853-1867
Henry Calderwood (1830-1897), 1868-1897
James Seth (1860-1925), 1898
Alfred Edward Taylor (1869-1945), 1924-1941
John Macmurray (1891-1976), 1944-1958
Winston Herbert Frederick Barnes (1909-1990), 1959 -
Harry Burrows Acton (1908-1974), 1964-1973
Ronald Hepburn (1927-2008), 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