The Scottish Enlightenment's Radical Minds

The Story of Scotland: Clans, Crowns, and the Fight for Identity — Fexingo History · Sep 20, 2026 · 8m · transcript

While we often remember the polished portraits of Adam Smith and David Hume, the true engine of the Scottish Enlightenment was a gritty, intellectual underground network that challenged the very foundations of authority. In this episode, we peel back the layers of the Select Society in Edinburgh and the Club of Honest Men in Glasgow to reveal how ordinary merchants, doctors, and clergy members debated ideas that would reshape the modern world. We explore the radical concept of common sense philosophy championed by Thomas Reid, who argued against the skepticism of his peers, and uncover the…