Thomas Reid (1710-1796), Scottish philosopher, was the founder of the so-called ScottishSchoolofCommonSense
?. He believed that
CommonSense--this terms is used in a special philosophical sense--is or should be at the foundation of all philosophical inquiry. He advocated
DirectRealism, or CommonSenseRealism
?, and inveighed strongly against TheTheoryOfIdeas
? advocated by JohnLocke
?, ReneDescartes
?, and (in varying forms) nearly all EarlyModernPhilosophers
? who came after them. He wrote a number of important philosophical works, including
Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense, the
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, and the
Essays on the Active Powers of Man. He played an integral role in the Scottish Enlightenment. In his day and for some years into the 19th century, he was regarded as more important than
DavidHume. His reputation waned after attacks on the ScottishSchoolofCommonSense
? by ImmanuelKant
? and JohnStuartMill
?. His reputation has arisen again in the wake of the influence of GeorgeEMoore
?, particularly due to attention given Reid by the likes of
WilliamAlston and AlvinPlantinga
?.
Meta-observation: the above took me less than ten minutes to write and required no research on my part. I could continue on and write twenty articles like this in a day with no trouble. I think this is an excellent way to generate draft articles for Nupedia.