This volume expounds the influence of Robert Burnss reading of Philosophy
on his life and work, supplementing this with his personal encounters
with those philosophers he met. The work begins with the
Homespun Philosophy of his early years under the tutelage of William
Burnes and John Murdoch, then examines in detail some of the texts of
John Locke, Adam Smith and Francis Hutcheson, including other writers
who reflect Hutchesons thinking. Further chapters include the exploration
on Thomas Reid, Dugald Stewart, Archibald Alison and William
Greenfield. Robert Burns and the Philosophers does not purport to be a
work of philosophy but rather to show the poets reaction to the subject
and the development of his understanding. This work opens up a subject
that hitherto has been almost unexplored.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1 Homespun philosophy
Chapter 2 John Locke I - Opening up other worlds
Chapter 3 Adam Smith I - Theory of Moral Sentiments
Chapter 4 Adam Smith II The Wealth of Nations
Chapter 5 Francis Hutcheson A shared outlook
Chapter 6 Thomas Reid Common Sense
Chapter 7 Dugald Stewart The local philosopher
Chapter 8 Archibald Alison and William Greenfield A confidence achieved
Appendix List of Authors or texts quoted or alluded to by William Greenfield
in his Essays on the sources of the pleasures received from literary
composition, that were known to Robert Burns.
References and Notes
Bibliography
Index
J. Walter McGinty received his PhD at the University of Strathclyde on
Literary, Philosophical and Theological Influences on Robert Burns.
Dr McGinty is an ordained Minister, having trained for the Ministry of
the Church of Scotland at the University of Glasgow and Trinity College
Glasgow. Other publications are Robert Burns and Religion, (Ashgate);
and Robert Burns the Book Lover: From Reader to Writer, (Humming
Earth.) The present volume completes the trilogy of books that have
examined the influence of the reading of Robert Burns. McGinty has
also written a biography, An Animated Son of Liberty: A Life of John
Witherspoon, (Arena) and has published papers on John Goldie and
Robert Burns and Miltons Satan and Burnss Auld Nick in Studies in
Scottish Literature Vols XXIX and XXXIII.
