The Reid Lectures on Natural Theology

Thomas Reid (1710-1796), a key figure of the Scottish Enlightenment and colleague of David Hume and Adam Smith, succeeded Smith as the University of Glasgow's Chair of Moral Philosophy in 1764. Renowned for his work on epistemology, Reid championed common sense as the foundation of human knowledge. He also significantly contributed to natural theology, which examines what light nature can shed on God's existence and attributes. Reid regularly delivered lectures at Glasgow on this subject, with student notes from 1780 surviving. These lectures, published here, offer insights into the historical interplay of natural science, philosophy, and theology, illuminating today's debate over intelligent design. Excluded from the ten-volume Edinburgh Edition of Reid's works, this revised, thoroughly annotated edition of Reid's lectures corrects errors in prior transcriptions, underscoring their historical importance as well as their relevance to ongoing debates over teleology in nature.