AFTER THE SCOTTISH ENLIGHTENMENT

Abstract

Many historians have speculated and generalized about the legacy of the Scottish Enlightenment to nineteenth century politics, social science, economics: but few have been able to go beyond illustrating the education of leading nineteenth century politicians at the feet ofDugald Stewart. These two volumes both make a case for the continuing importance of aspects of eighteenth century Scottish social theory, transmitted and amended through the emigration of a young Scottish intellectual elite to London and provincial England in the first three decades of the nineteenth century. This is an important theme, which raises significant questions about our understanding of nineteenth century liberalism. One at least of these volumes succeeds in analysing a broad and influential current of thinking about the moral and political ethos of a society expanding in wealth and power, a commercial society, according to the Scots, or capitalist society according to a more modern terminology. Biancamaria Fontana's study of the Edinburgh Review is one which may appear narrowly based, focussed primarily on that periodical's intellectual outlook, and particularly on its political economy. She considers in detail the arguments and political influence of its principal reviewers: and her conclusions go far beyond the limitations of their subject. The reviewers were deeply influenced by their education in Edinburgh, where they received a thorough grounding in eighteenth century social theory, to which the Wealth ofNations was central. Dr Fontana explores the content of their writing on political and economic issues, and effectively demonstrates how continuously they adhered to the central problematic theme, of commercial society. They preserved the priorities of their eighteenth century predecessors, while at the same time amending and mediating them in response to political and economic change. Most notably, the experience of the French Revolution and of the Napoleonic wars shifted their outlook from the political neutrality of Hume or Stewart