Professor James Beattie FRSE (25 October 1735 – 18 August 1803) was a Scottish poet, moralist and philosopher.

He was born the son of a shopkeeper and small farmer at Laurencekirk

Laurencekirk

Laurencekirk is a small town in the ancient county of Kincardineshire, modern county of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, just off the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen main road. It is the largest settlement in the Howe o' the Mearns area and houses the local secondary school; Mearns Academy, which was awarded the...

 in the Mearns

Mearns

Mearns can refer to*Mearns Academy* Mearns, Alberta* Mearns Castle*Mearns Castle High School* Mearns FM* Mearns Primary School* Kincardineshire, the County of Kincardine, The Mearns in Scotland* Newton Mearnsin biology:...

, and educated at Aberdeen University. In 1760, he was appointed Professor of moral philosophy there as a result of the interest of his intimate friend, Robert Arbuthnot of Haddo. In the following year he published a volume of poems, The Judgment of Paris (1765), which attracted attention. The two works, however, which brought him most fame were:

1. His Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth (1770), intended as an answer to David 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...
   
   , which had great immediate success, and led to an introduction to the King, a pension of £200, and the degree of LL.D. from Oxford
   University of Oxford
   The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
   
   ; and
2. his poem of The Minstrel, of which the first book was published in 1771 and the second in 1774, and which constitutes his true title to remembrance, winning him the praise of Samuel Johnson
   Samuel Johnson
   Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
   
   . It contains much beautiful descriptive writing.

Beattie was prominent in arguing against the institution of slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

, notably in his Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth and Elements of Moral Science.

Beattie underwent much domestic sorrow in the death of his wife and two promising sons, which broke down his own health and spirits.

A biographical sketch, An Account of the Life of James Beattie, LL.D., was published in 1804 by Alexander Bower

Alexander Bower

Alexander Bower was a biographer from Scotland.Bower began as a teacher in Edinburgh, then acted as assistant-librarian in the university of Edinburgh...

.

Works

• Original Poems and Translations (1760)
• The Judgement of Paris (1765)
• Poems on Several Subjects (1766)
• An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth (1770)
• The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius (1771/2) two volumes
• Essays, on the nature and immutability of truth in opposition to sophistry and scepticism. On poetry and music as they affect the mind. On laughter and ludicrous composition. On the utility of classical learning (1776)
• Essays on Poetry (1778)
• Scoticisms, Arranged in Alphabetical Order, Designed to Correct Improprieties of Speech and Writing (1779)
• Poems on several occasions (1780)
• Dissertations Moral and Critical (1783)
• The Evidence of the Christian Religion Briefly and Plainly Stated (1786) 2 vols.
• The theory of language. Part I. Of the origin and general nature of speech. Part II. Of universal grammar (1788)
• Elements of Moral Science (1790–1793) two volumes
• The Poetical Works of James Beattie (1831) edited by A. Dyce
• The poetical works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer (1868) edited by Charles Cowden Clarke
  Charles Cowden Clarke
  Charles Cowden Clarke , English author and Shakespearian scholar, was born in Enfield, Middlesex.-Life:His father, John Clarke, was a schoolmaster in Clarke's Academy in Enfield Town, among whose pupils was John Keats. Charles Clarke taught Keats his letters, and encouraged his love of poetry...
  
  
• James Beattie's Day-Book, 1773-1778 (1948) edited by R. S. Walker
• James Beattie's Diary (1948) edited by R. S. Walker

External links

• Beattie, James, Elements of Moral Science, 1790. Facsimile ed., 1975, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, ISBN 978-0-8201-1167-4.