Besides these four leaders of the Scottish school, Hutcheson deserves especial honor for anticipating in
fact, though not with elTect upon the course of specula- tion, some of tlie most important positions that were taken by Reid in dissent from Locke. It would seem as if Hutcheson had himself been influenced by a small but able school of Irish critics of Locke, whose home was in Trinity College, Dublin. George Turnbull should not be overlooked, who was the instructor of Reid, and, in some sense, anticipated many of his doctrines. The subtle and consequent David Hume should not be for- gotten, for without Hume the Scottish metaphysics would never have had existence. Hume not only waked Kant froin his dogmatic slumber, but compelled Reid into the position of an earnest and patient inquirer into the correctness of the current philosophy received from Locke. To Hume's acuteness and subtlety does the world owe the birth, beginnings, and character of the two most significant schools of philosophy in mod- ern times, viz. the German and the Scottish. Adam Smith did not fall into the ranks with Reid; but he wrote the ingenious Theory of Moral Sentiments, the ethical principles of which have been enforced in the present generation with a new accession of energy and zeal. Thomas Chalmers was not an originator of special philosophical opinions, but he expounded and enforced profound ethical and metaphysical principles with con- tagious energy and inspiring enthusiasm. John Wilson was more of a poet than a philosopher, but he brought rare gifts and rarer eloquence to the illustration of eth- ical themes. The acute and brilliant Terrier may never have made a single convert to his theory of conscious- ness, but he could not fail to kindle a genuine interest in philosophical studies by his subtle analysis and his lucid statements. It does not fall within our task to characterize living teachers and writers; otherwise we might speak of Prof. Henrj' Calderwood, the daring critic of Hamilton when Hamilton was in his prime; Prof. A. D. Frazer, the subtle and sympathizing biogra- pher and editor of Berkeley; Prof. Veitch, the genial bi- ographer of Hamilton and Stewart; and the indomitable and tenacious Alexander Bain, whose zeal and learning must sooner or later arouse antagonists and critics who shall effectively protest against the extremes to which he carries his associational theories. Two other writers should not be overlooked. James Hutchison Stirling, M.D., the author of the Sec7-et of Hegel, the critic of Hamilton, and the able antagonist of Huxlej^ in his As Regards Protojilasm ; and Prof. Simon S. Laurie, the ingenious author of Philosophy of Ethics and Notes Ej'pository and Critical on Certain Bi'itish Theories of Morals, give ample proof that the interest in philosoph- ical studies is not likely to die out, and that, in some form or other, a Scottish philosophy will continue to be taught and defended which will not be unworthy of Reid and Hamilton. Nor should we fail to give just honor to Dr. James M'Cosh, who was trained in the Scottish philosojihy, and has done so much to expound and defend, in an independent and critical sjiirit, its most important and distinctive principles in his well-known works, and has also written the history of the Scottish school with an enthusiastic interest and faithful research. The Scottish philosophy has had no inconsiderable influence on the Continent, especially in France. Du- gald Stewart attracted many pupils from that country, and among them the distinguished Royer Collard, who lectureii in the Sorbomie in the years 1811-14, which lectures were the first significant indications of a reac- tion against the traditional system of Condillac. The fragments of these lectures were subsequently published in connection with a translation of the works of Reid made Ijy Theodore Jouff'roy. who, with Victor Cousin, was a pupil of Collard. The Eclectic and the more modern Historical French schools show abundant traces of indebtedness to the Scottish philosophy and the im- pulses which it received from the Scottish teachers with whom it began. This influence has been gratefully ac- knowledgeil by Royer Collard, Theodore Jouff'roy, Victor Cousin, and many of Cousin's pupils.
SCOTUS
459
SCOTUS
See M'Cosh, The Scottish Ph'dosophi/, Bi<>r/raphir<i/, E.rpository, Critical, frotii //utchcson to llniiiilloH (N. Y. 1875); Cousin, Philosophie Ecosscdse (Paris, lb>G3, 4ch ed.) ; Ueberweg, Ilistnry of Philosophy, etc., translated by Prof. George S. Morris (N. Y, 1872-74), app. i, §'27-46. (N.i>.)
Scotus, Duns. See Duns Scotus.
Scotus (Erif/ena), John, a very notaI)le philosopher of the Carlovingian period, who reanimated in his own person the long-slighted speculations of the Neo-Pla- tonists, and communicated the impulse which, after two centuries, eventuated in the earnest and brilliant labors of the schoolmen. The age in which Scotus Erigena lived is so distant; it is so obscure and confused, or, at least, presents so little to attract interest in modern times; his works are so unfamiliar and so rare, that his name is little regarded, and his career is seldom deemed worthy of consideration. Indeed, so slight is the gen- eral acijuaiutance with himself and his productions that he is at times confounded with the much later philoso- pher of somewhat similar name. Duns Scotus (q. v.). Yet John Scotus Erigena was a very remarkable phe- nomenon for the age in which he appeared. He bisects the long interval between Boethius and William of. Champeaux, and is the sole luminary — obscured and soon swallowed up by the gloom which irradiates the darkness of speculation in Western Christendom — during those centuries. There may be little of permanent val- ue in his doctrines; there may have been scarcely any direct influence exercised bj' them on his own age and on the ages that ensued; there may be a very imperfect appreciation of the philosophy which he revived, re- modelled, and transmitted; there may be little profun- dity when he is compared with his eminent predecessors and his more illustrious successors; but there was great intellectual boldness in his career. There were vigor and originality in his profession and exposition of the elder and almost forgotten doctrines in a dull and de- clining da}'. A profound impression was communicated by him to his own and to subsequent times, though it was conveyed by devious and unnoted channels, and through long and strangeh' disguised modes of trans- mission. A full and penetrating appreciation of this lonelj^and memorable dreamer in relation to the creeds, the thoughts, the interests, and the fortunes of his times might throw unexpected light on the history of philos- ophy and of theology, and even upon the confused strug- gles— social, political, and intellectual — of the 9th and 10th centuries, the dreariest because the least compre- hended period of Christian history.