Life

He was born at Pilrig

Pilrig

Pilrig is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The name derives from a tower at the end of a field .Pilrig lies midway between Leith and Edinburgh, west of Leith Walk. It is split by Pilrig Street, which marks the division between the EH6 and EH7 postcode districts...

, near Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. After studying at Edinburgh and at Leyden, he was called to the Scottish bar. He held the offices of treasurer to the faculty of Advocates and sheriff-substitute of the county of Edinburgh. In 1754 he was appointed to the chair of moral philosophy in the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, and in 1754 transferred to that of the law of nature and nations.

Works

He was the author of three philosophical books:

• A Delineation of the Nature and Obligation of Morality, with Reflexions upon Mr. Hume's book entitled An Inquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. This book was published anonymously, the first edition in 1753, the second in 1763.
• Philosophical Essays, published anonymously in 1768.
• Philosophical Dissertations, published in 1782 under the author's name.

James McCosh

James McCosh

James McCosh was a prominent philosopher of the Scottish School of Common Sense. He was president of Princeton University 1868-1888.-Biography:...

, in his work on the Scottish Philosophy, says of him:

He sets out (in his "Delineation") with the principle that private happiness must be the chief end and object of every man's pursuit; shows how the good of others affords the greatest happiness; and then, to sanction natural conscience, he calls in the authority of God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

, who must approve of what promotes the greatest happiness. This theory does not give morality 'a sufficiently deep foundation in the constitution of man on the character of God, and could not have stood against the assaults of Hume

David Hume

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...

. ... In his "Philosophical Essays" he wrote against Hume and Lord Kaimes, and in defence of active power and liberty. Like all active opponents of the new scepticism he felt it necessary to oppose the favourite theory of Locke

John Locke

John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...

, that all our ideas are derived from sensation and reflexion.

Family

Balfour's mother was a Miss Hamilton, of Airdrie, great-grandaunt of the late Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet

Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet

Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet was a Scottish metaphysician.-Early life:He was born in Glasgow. He was from an academic family, including Robert Hamilton, the economist...

, professor of logic and metaphysics in the University of Edinburgh 1836-1856. His eldest sister married Gavin Hamilton, bookseller and publisher in Edinburgh (also, it is believed, a member of the Airdrie family), whose eldest son was Robert Hamilton, professor of mathematics in Marischal College and University, Aberdeen, author of a treatise on the national debt.

Further reading

• The Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography
• Anderson's Scottish Nation
• M'Cosh's Scottish Philosophy
• Letter to the writer from John M. Balfour-Melville, Esq., of Pilrig and Mount Melville, great-grandson of Professor Balfour.