1735 – 1803
James Beattie (1735–1803) was a Scottish philosopher and poet, Professor of Moral Philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and a prominent critic of Humean skepticism. Associated with the Scottish Common Sense tradition, he argued that natural instinct and common sense provide legitimate grounds for belief in God, the self, and external reality. His 'Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth' (1770) was widely celebrated in his day, though later criticized by Kant for its polemical rather than rigorous method.
Authored 'An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth' (1770), a widely read refutation of Hume's skepticism
Argued that common sense instincts rationally ground belief in God, personal identity, and the external world
Professor of Moral Philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen, for over three decades
Member of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society ('Wise Club'), alongside Thomas Reid
Received a royal pension and honorary doctorate from Oxford for his philosophical and literary work