Scotland's People

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Reid, Thomas

1710-1796

Thomas Reid was born in Strachan in the north east of Scotland, the son of a church minister. He received his education at Marischal College, Aberdeen and went on to become its librarian in 1733. Four years later he was inducted as minister of New Machar, near Aberdeen. From 1751 to 1764 he held the chair of Philosophy at King's College Aberdeen and, from 1764 until his retirement in 1781, he succeeded Adam Smith as professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow.
His 'Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense' (1764) sought to refute the empiricism of David Hume. Thomas greatly influenced Dugald Stewart who went on to found the 'common sense' school of philosophical thought in Scotland.
Thomas' wife died in 1792, and of their nine children, only their daughter Martha survived him. It is to her that he leaves his possessions.

Further reading: Lehrer, Keith, Thomas Reid, (London, 1989) Dalgarno, M. and Matthews, E., (eds.), The Philosophy of Thomas Reid, (Dordrecht, 1989) Gilmour, Peter, (ed.), Philosophers of the Enlightenment, (Edinburgh, 1989)

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