Natural Religion and the Emergence of Social Science in the Scottish Enlightenment

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This study program aimed to research on the relationship between theological thought, particularly natural religion, and the emergence of social science in the Scottish Enlightenment. First two years, the program focused on the general background of theological atmosphere in the first half of the eighteenth century Scotland. For instance, Hutcheson, Blair, Robertson, Wallace, Kames, Hume.Smith and other minor priests have been investigated thorough not only their published major works but also sermons-or-pamphlets.So far, the program has confirmed that the Scottish tradition of natural religion or natural theology was more naturalistic or anthropocentric than the English counter part, which was more abstract and logical, and that this characteristics had a certain effect on the emergence of social science which have a taste of secular and practical world, in the latter half the century.In the last year of the program, it has concentrated on the analysis of Lord Kames's Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion (1751). I claim that this work includes not only Scottish style of natural theology but also essential elements of eighteenth century's social science such as the empirical method, the idea of progress, the concept of the power of commercial society and etc., which should have effected on Hume and Smith in terms of their vision of Political Economy. I read a paper titled "Natural Religion and Social Science in the Scottish Enlightenment : the Scientific Implications in Lord Kames's Essays" for the 10th Anniversary Conference of the Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society at Universite Standhal. Grenoble III.France on 6-9 July 1996.