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

该研究项目旨在研究神学思想，特别是自然宗教与苏格兰启蒙运动中社会科学的出现之间的关系。前两年，该计划侧重于在十八世纪上半叶苏格兰神学氛围的一般背景。通过对哈奇森、布莱尔、罗伯逊、华莱士、卡姆斯、休谟、史密斯等一批小牧师的研究，不仅考察了他们出版的主要著作，而且考察了他们的布道或小册子，证实了苏格兰的自然宗教或自然神学传统比英国的自然宗教或自然神学传统更具有自然主义或自然中心主义色彩，而英国的自然宗教或自然神学传统则更抽象、更符合逻辑。这一特点对世纪后半叶具有世俗和实践色彩的社会科学的出现产生了一定的影响。在该计划的最后一年，它集中在对Kames勋爵的《道德和自然宗教原理论文集》（1751）的分析上。笔者认为，这部著作不仅包含了苏格兰式的自然神学，而且还包含了世纪社会科学的基本要素，如经验方法、进步观念、商业社会权力观念等，这本应影响休谟和斯密的政治经济学视野。我读了一篇题为“苏格兰启蒙运动中的自然宗教和社会科学：卡姆斯勋爵论文中的科学含义”的论文，是为斯坦德哈尔大学18世纪苏格兰研究学会10周年纪念会议准备的。1996年7月6日至9日，法国格勒诺布尔三。

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.