Social Reform - Will Roper HIST 210 Ed Mathieu The Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment of the eighteenth century produced some of the

1Will Roper HIST 210 Ed Mathieu The Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment of the eighteenth century produced some of the great writers and thinkers of the time. But there was something different about this group of geniuses. They were refined and yet coarse at the same time. Lord Kames, for example, is considered to have done more to promote philosophy in Scotland that all the men of law had done for the century before, yet he never claimed to be well read, and his favorite term of affection and reproach to both men and women was the word “bitch.” My favorite quote in particular was his when he said goodbye to his legal colleagues with the exclamation, “Fare ye all well, ye bitches!” (Daiches). As I said, Scotland produced a wide variety of thinkers, both men and women. While, philosophy and thought soared throughout Edinburgh and Scotland, it still seemed to come as a secondary priority. Very few of the thinkers and writers in Edinburgh actually wrote to provide for themselves.