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Philosophy PhD thesis collection Collection home page

Edinburgh has a distinguished place in the history of philosophy, having been home to David Hume and Adam Smith. Philosophy has been taught at the university since its foundation in 1583, and the department counts among its past scholars such leading figures as Adam Ferguson, Dugald Stewart (whose memorial, pictured, overlooks Hume's tomb in Old Calton Cemetery), Sir William Hamilton, A.E. Taylor, Norman Kemp Smith, John Macmurray and W.H. Walsh. (See the Notes on the History of the Department.) Hume was an undergraduate, but, in one of the University's more questionable actions, was turned down for the chair of moral philosophy in 1745. The current department, now part of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences (PPLS), was one of only half a dozen philosophy departments in the United Kingdom to obtain a 5* in the last RAE (Research Assessment Exercise).

The PhD theses in this collection must be cited in line with the usual academic conventions. These articles are protected under full copyright law. You may download it for your own personal use only.