Abstract
ABSTRACTGeorge Campbell was a major figure in the history of prescriptivism in the late eighteenth century. He is best known for his attack on Swift and his requirements that grammar must be reputable, national and present. This paper examines Campbell's idea in the wider context of his time, and in particular considers the implications for his work of the contemporary views about national identity. As a native of Aberdeen, Campbell had a double allegiance, to both Britain and to Scotland, and it is this which is explored here. I examine Campbell's role in the Scottish Enlightenment and more generally the position of intellectuals in that movement and I contrast that with the English grammarians of the time. Campbell's views fit squarely into the Common Sense School of philosophy. Although this school is often seen as representing middle class values, this has to be embedded into the intellectual context of the time.
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