How did French and English ideas influence the Scottish Enlightenment?

The Scottish Enlightenment was shaped by a complex exchange of ideas with France and England, though it maintained a distinctive character rooted in Scottish history and education.12

French Influence
Pre-revolutionary France served as the epicenter of the broader Enlightenment, particularly through its impulse to systematize knowledge. The Encyclopédie, compiled by Denis Diderot and his colleagues, directly inspired Edinburgh printers like William Smellie to launch the Encyclopædia Britannica in 1768. Additionally, the intellectual connection was solidified by the warm reception of David Hume in Parisian society, reflecting shared philosophical roots.1

English Influence
English thinkers provided foundational stimuli for Scottish philosophy. John Locke set the course for Enlightenment empiricism, while the works of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury and Bernard de Mandeville served as key catalysts for Francis Hutcheson’s influential inquiries into virtue and beauty. Furthermore, the scientific influence of Isaac Newton was pervasive, though Scottish thinkers often engaged with these ideas critically, prioritizing reason and empirical evidence over mere tradition or precedent.12