Dugald Stewart

Dugald Stewart (1753 to 1828) was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician, remembered today as one of the leading figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment. He was the son of Matthew Stewart, professor of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, and was educated at the High School and the University of Edinburgh, with a session at Glasgow under Thomas Reid. At nineteen he began teaching his father's mathematical classes, and in 1775 he was elected joint professor of mathematics alongside his father. In 1785 he succeeded Adam Ferguson in the chair of moral philosophy, which he held for twenty-five years and which drew students from England, Europe and America. In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and he later became the first biographer of Adam Smith. His lectures were widely disseminated by his many influential students, and from 1800 he also lectured on political economy. He retired from the professorship in 1820 and spent his later years largely at Kinneil House.