The Influence Of Scottish Enlightenment Thought On The American Constitutio

The Enlightenment,as a significant intellectual and cultural movement in the history of mankind,has influenced and shaped the western and even the whole human society of today.During the period of more than a century,the Enlightenment involved over a dozen nations and over one hundred important thinkers,statesmen,educators and social activists whose writings provided abundant intellectual resources and exhibited powerful tensions.The Scottish Enlightenment refers to the intellectual and cultural movement that was initiated in the 1720s and lasted for a century in Scotland.As distinct from the Enlightenment teachings of the European Continent noted for their approach of rationalism,the Scottish Enlightenment had four key characteristics.The first was a skepticism about various forms of rationalism and about the attempts by such thinkers as Descartes in France and Leibniz in Germany to find a single method or set of rules of rationality from which all truths might be deduced.The second was the central place given to what was connoted by the terms sentiment and sense,as in the "moral sense" school founded by the third Earl of Shaftesbury,and as in the "philosophy of common sense" which emerged in Scotland in the 18th century.The third was the drive toward empirical methods of inquiry.The fourth was to establish the standard for distinguishing truth from falsehood through the development of a science of human nature as was discussed by Hume in his A Treatise of Human Nature.One of the most significant contributions of the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers is the "science of man" which also influenced their approaches to the study of social relations and social systems.These thinkers were committed to the economic and political progress of the Scottish society and their research paved the way for modern social sciences including psychology,sociology,political science and economics.These subjects of social science were all contained in the "moral philosophy" which in the 18th century served as an early form of modern science,incorporating not merely the studies in ethics and morality,but the study of human nature in both descriptive and prescriptive manners as well.Scottish thinkers such as Francis Hutcheson,David Hume,Adam Smith,Thomas Reid all treated the study of the moral nature of man as the starting point for their research on the mechanism of social progress.In the 18th century the term "human science" was not used;what was in use was its equivalent "moral science," which was almost identical to what was called later the "social science." The Scots were committed to the "science of man" in a secular spirit with the aim of assisting people to pursue a life of happiness,value and morality in a society that was becoming increasingly complex and commercialized.The Scottish Enlightenment thinkers endeavored to conduct a scientific study of human mind and human nature,employing empirical and inductive approaches in their research on the historical process and intellectual activity of mankind with the intention of discovering natural laws to be adhered to in the areas of morality,social life and governance so as to provide rationale for the amelioration to be made to the social and political systems.Following the discussion of human nature and political governance by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke,their work served as a valuable continuance involving the study of human mind,reason and emotion,and modes of society in human history.Their theoretical approaches as regards the explanation of human nature and social governance displayed the intellectual features of the Scottish Enlightenment while serving as the forerunner of the social sciences in the 19th century.The Scottish Enlightenment thoughts were disseminated in North America while the American colonies declared independence and the Constitution was being made.These thoughts exerted influence upon the American founding and the formation of American constitutionalism due to the fact that both Scotland and America were cultural provinces of Great Britain and that there existed many similarities in terms of issues to be dealt with between the Scottish thinkers and American founding fathers.Cultivated by the Scottish Enlightenment thoughts,the American founders mostly believed that human nature contained universal attributes,that politics could be treated as a social science,and that history could be studied for the acquisition of lessons,principles and laws concerning the vicissitude of human society.From the Scottish thinkers they obtained insights which were helpful for their recognition of reality and planning for the future and perspectives which influenced their views of and strategies to cope with certain important issues at that time.The formation of American constitutionalism admittedly comprises both the inheritance of the European tradition of democracy and rule of law and the innovative wisdom of the Americans to meet the challenges of their social and epochal context.American constitutionalism features the republicanism with its sovereignty in people,the government mode of power division and counterbalance,and values attached to the protection of individual rights.In terms of their origins,these principles can be traced back to the European notions of natural law and natural rights,the tradition of the British common law,and the theories of Locke and Montesquieu.But the contribution of the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers also played a significant role when the particular historical context is concerned.One meaningful example is The Federalist Papers which drew upon a profusion of valuable thoughts of the Scottish Enlightenment.These thoughts including an empirical view of human nature,faculty psychology and theories of motivation were employed as undergirding rationale for their constitutional philosophy.It was by integrating the theories of Locke and Montesquieu with those of the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers that Publius managed to create a constitutional system befitting the actual conditions and social context of America.Early American political leaders benefited greatly from the insights of Hume’s theory of human nature and political action.For Publius,the construction of a reasonable constitutionalism entails adequate knowledge of human nature.In agreement with Hume,Publius held that the correct understanding of human nature should be based on an empirical observation of history in which its actual condition was manifested.Accordingly Publius adopted a perspective of moral realism and proposed that the scientific study of man should be based on the experience accumulated through generations.Moreover,the 18th century Scottish Enlightenment thinkers also conducted in-depth analysis of human psychological mechanism.One example is Reid’s faculty psychology which exerted important influence on the constitutional theories of The Federalist Papers.This is reflected on one hand in its illustration of the principles of reason,animal and mechanics which provides basis for Publius’s republicanism and the related political eliteism.One the other hand,Publius adopted the concepts of faculty psychology when explaining the various functions of government:the branches of government such as the legislative,the executive and the judiciary corresponded to aspects of the faculty of reason including understanding,will and conscience.Furthermore,the design of a "complex republic" which involved checks and balances both horizontally and vertically was discussed as a core issue in The Federalist Papers and the Scottish theories of human motivation served as an indispensable foundation in terms of political psychology for the illumination of such constitutional principle.In addition,faction was also an issue to be dealt with.Publius drew upon the theories of Scottish thinkers such as Hume,Smith and Ferguson concerning the origins of and remedies for factions and thereby formulated effective measures as part of the constitutional design including the republicanism through representation and the establishment of an extended republic.In conclusion,the comparative study herein witnesses a close connection between the teachings and ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers and the constitutional theories of The Federalist Papers.The Scottish Enlightenment thoughts served as an essential rationale for Publius’s elaboration on his constitutional proposals and therefore supplied an invaluable intellectual resource for the creation of American constitutionalism.