Hugh Blair

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Hugh Blair

Hugh Blair ( April 7, 1718 - December 27, 1800 ) was a Scottish clergyman , writer and rhetorician . He is considered one of the most influential writers of the Scottish Enlightenment ( Scottish Enlightenment ).

biography

Blair was in Edinburgh , the son of a Presbyterian born parents. At the University of Edinburgh he studied moral philosophy and literature . In 1739 he obtained his Master of Arts with the thesis "De Fundamentis et Obligatione Legis Naturae".

From 1741 to 1743 Blair taught in the church school service. In 1743 he became parish priest in Collesie in Fife . It was from here that his ecclesiastical career began, which in 1754 finally brought him to the highest clerical office in the Church of Scotland , the High Church (i.e. St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh). From 1759 to 1783 he taught as Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature, first literature, then rhetoric at the University of Edinburgh. In particular, his three-volume "Lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres" saw many editions.

His circle of friends included other influential figures from the Scottish Enlightenment, including David Hume , Alexander Carlyle , Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson . Friedrich Schleiermacher was also involved in the development of the German-language edition of Blair's sermons, which the Berlin reformed theologian FSG Sack published .

Blair died in December 1800, several years after his longtime wife, Katherine Bannatine.

Works

  • A critical dissertation on the poems of Ossian (1763)
  • Essays on rhetoric (1784)
  • Lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres (3 vols., Numerous editions)
  • Sermons (5 vols.)
  • On tranquility of mind (1857)

literature

  • John Hill: An account of the life and writings of Hugh Blair. Philadelphia 1808.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Blair, Hugh
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish clergyman, writer and rhetorician
DATE OF BIRTH April 7, 1718
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1800