Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This brief research note scrutinises the claim made in the Edinburgh University Race Review that Dugald Stewart believed David Hume endorsed the enslavement of black Africans because of the latter's belief in the cognitive inferiority of these people. Closer inspection reveals that the evidence for this claim is equivocal, and while Stewart may have made this claim, he was also probably wrong. In this instance, the use of evidence appears to have been careless, and the wider historical context of ideas neglected. It is suggested this may reflect on the quality of the wider review.
Source: Scottish Affairs
Author: Jonathan Hearn
Institution: University of Edinburgh
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7160842559