The Scottish Enlightenment

南方朔:

http://www.cw.com.tw/blog/blogTopic.action?id=9&nid=1547
......
而《大英百科全書》第一版，一七六七年編印於蘇格蘭的愛丁堡，可以說即是蘇格蘭價值的體現。它代表了對知識充滿了好奇，對問題的探索，具有熱情的那種時代精神。
如果我們回溯十八、十九世紀，即可發覺蘇格蘭人的傑出。經濟學之父亞當斯密、發明蒸汽機的瓦特、西方發明牛痘的傑佛、發明綜合紡織機的布坎南、發現 二氧化碳的布萊克、治療壞血病的林德、設計現代公路的麥克亞當、設計現代鐵路的戴爾佛， 以及後來移民美國成為鋼鐵大王的卡內基，成為電報電話大王的貝爾，他們全都是蘇格蘭人，更不必說，十八世紀蘇格蘭最偉大的思想家休姆。


蘇格蘭人愛好探究問題，使得蘇格蘭成為經濟學、地質學、人類學、工程學等學問的發源地。
進化論之父達爾文家族認為，當時英格蘭教育已不足觀，因此達爾文的教育，是在愛丁堡完成的。近代最偉大的思想家之一彌爾，也同樣是在蘇格蘭接受教育。
一八二五年，蘇格蘭人根據他們的方式，去倫敦辦了倫敦大學，培養出現代電子學之父佛萊明。
我們幾乎可以說，整個現代文明，都和蘇格蘭人有關。甚至美國的常春藤盟校系統，也是蘇格蘭人威瑟斯朋所創。.......
因此，我為《大英百科全書》停出紙本版而哀只是表，真正悲哀的，其實是蘇格蘭啟蒙精神的淪喪。啟蒙理性時代曾創造出璀璨的文明進步，而人類未來進步的動力何在？

進一步:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Enlightenment

David Hume and Adam Smith on the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

The Scottish Enlightenment (Scots: Scottis Enlightenment) was the period in 18th century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By 1750, Scots were among the most literate citizens of Europe, with an estimated 75% level of literacy.^[1] The culture was oriented to books,^[2] and intense discussions took place daily at such intellectual gathering places in Edinburgh as The Select Society and, later, The Poker Club as well as within Scotland’s ancient universities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Sharing the humanist and rationalist outlook of the European Enlightenment of the same time period, the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment asserted the fundamental importance of human reason combined with a rejection of any authority which could not be justified by reason. They held to an optimistic belief in the ability of humanity to effect changes for the better in society and nature, guided only by reason. It was this latter feature which gave the Scottish Enlightenment its special flavour, distinguishing it from its continental European counterpart. In Scotland, the Enlightenment was characterised by a thoroughgoing empiricism and practicality where the chief virtues were held to be improvement, virtue and practical benefit for both the individual and society as a whole.
Among the fields that rapidly advanced were philosophy, political economy, engineering, architecture, medicine, geology, archaeology, law, agriculture, chemistry and sociology. Among the Scottish thinkers and scientists of the period were Francis Hutcheson, Alexander Campbell, David Hume, Adam Smith, Dugald Stewart, Thomas Reid, Robert Burns, Adam Ferguson, John Playfair, Joseph Black and James Hutton.
The Scottish Enlightenment had effects far beyond Scotland itself, not only because of the esteem in which Scottish achievements were held in Europe and elsewhere, but also because its ideas and attitudes were carried across the Atlantic world as part of the Scottish diaspora, and by American students who studied in Scotland. As a result, a significant proportion of technological and social development in the United States, Canada and New Zealand in the 18th and 19th centuries were accomplished through Scots-Americans and Scots-Canadians.