Scottish Enlightenment Research Paper

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Conclusion
As the eighteenth century came to an end so did the period that had been known as the golden age of the Scottish Enlightenment. The ideas first put forward by philosopher David Hume of the truth that springs from observation, would fall by the Wearside as the nineteenth century dawned. Instead artists of the new century would be inspired by the work of poet James MacPherson and in particular his Poems of Ossian. A series of poems that would influence the new artistic movement of Romanticism.

The work of Ramsay, Hamilton and Runciman are direct responses of the environment in which they were creating artwork in. The inspiration, subject matter and the ideas behind their work are a result of the ideas put forth by the great thinkers …show more content…

Its main ideas spanning across all fields was the search for truth, an understanding of the human mind and natural environment in which we live. The combining of the Union, Industrial revolution and the Enlightenment transformed Scotland and put the country at the cultural centre of Europe. The Philosopher David Hume found it peculiar the way Scotland had changed and transformed into the cultural centre of Europe and stated “Is it not strange that, at a time when we have lost our Princes, our Parliaments, our independent Government, even the Presence of our chief Nobility, are unhappy in our accent and pronunciation, speak a very corrupt Dialect of the Tongue which we make use of; is it not strange, I say, that in these Circumstances, we should really be the People most distinguished for Literature in Europe?” (STVScotland, …show more content…

They are an integral part when looking at the cultural context of the Scottish Enlightenment. Without the enlightenment Gavin Hamilton wouldn’t have pioneered neoclassical painting. That without Allan Ramsay questioning and removing himself from the style of his contemporaries, Scottish artists would be churning out, in a mechanical like system, paintings that would have been an “arbitrary requirement of style”(Macmillan, 2000). Without Alexander Runciman being the first to visualise James MacPherson’s Poems of Ossian Scotland may not have a regained the identity of the Highland way of life and could have lost forever a vital part of their

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