William Wishart (secundus)

Very Rev William Wishart (secundus) (1691/2-1753) was the Principal of Edinburgh University from 1736 to 1753. He is not to be confused with his father William Wishart (primus) who was Principal of Edinburgh University from 1716 to 1730. Wishart came into a large legacy from his uncle Admiral Sir James Wishart who was an Admiral of the White.[1] Like his father and brother George Wishart (moderator), he also served as The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

He is believed by most historians, to have written A Letter from a Gentleman (1745), an important criticism of David Hume.[2]

He was a critic of George Berkeley[3] and David Hume[4]

Apart from his defence of religious toleration and liberal political philosophy, Wishart's writings were heavily oriented toward general issues of moral philosophy.[5]

Notes

1. James Wishart, Paula Watson, HistoryOfParliament.org, accessed December 2012
2. Wishart, Baxter and Hume's Letter from a Gentleman Paul Russell, Hume Studies Volume XXIII, Number 2 (November, 1997) 245-276
3. Alexander Stewart, Berkeley and the Rankenian club, Hermathena 139, 1985. Reprinted in George Berkeley: Essays and replies, ed. D. Berman. Irish Academic Press, 1986.
4. David Hume: Life and Writings [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
5. Wishart, Baxter and Hume's Letter from a Gentleman Paul Russell, Hume Studies Volume XXIII, Number 2 (November, 1997) 245-276

• M. A. Stewart, 'Wishart, William (1691/2–1753)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

Preceded by James Smith	Principals of Edinburgh University 1736–1754	Succeeded by John Gowdie