Hugh Blair'sObservations upon a Pamphlet(1755): Introduction and Text

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article provides a critical edition and brief introduction to a polemical pamphlet of Hugh Blair published anonymously under the title Observations upon a Pamphlet, Intitled, An Analysis of the Moral and Religious Sentiments contained in the Writings of Sopho, and David Hume, Esq; &c. (1755). The work participates in a contemporary controversy concerning human nature and religion. Within the controversy Henry Home, Lord Kames, and David Hume had been attacked for their views on free will, not least in a tract by conservative churchman John Bonar. Blair's pamphlet defends Kames and Hume and provides a rare look at Blair's rhetorical practice apart from his extant sermons.