Exclusive:Poll reveals majority of Scots have never heard of Scottish Enlightenment or David Hume

A new poll has produced interesting results about the Scottish Enlightenment and philosopher David Hume.

A majority of Scots have never heard of the Scottish Enlightenment or Scotland’s most famous philosopher David Hume, a new poll has revealed.

The poll found 56 per cent of respondents did not know of the Enlightenment - the period in 18th and 19th-century Scotland characterised by a flood of intellectual and scientific accomplishments - nor of Mr Hume himself.

A statue of David Hume against the backdrop of Edinburgh's Old Town | Scotsman/Canva

The survey, commissioned by the David Hume Institute and carried out by ScotPulse, also found seven in ten (72 per cent) people were interested in history and wanted to learn more.

Fewer than one in five respondents thought the past was not relevant to how their lives are lived today, the survey showed.

Mr Hume is a historian and economist best known for his highly influential system of empiricism and philosophical scepticism published during the 18th century. But his views on race and his association with the slave trade has sparked criticism in recent years, with the University of Edinburgh removing his name from one of its campus buildings over concerns on the “distress” caused to students.

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A total of 2,194 people aged 16 and over in Scotland were interviewed from February 4-10 for the poll.

Susan Murray, director of the David Hume Institute, said: “This survey poses an interesting question for an institute named in honour of one of Scotland’s most famous Enlightenment thinkers. Does knowing about the enlightenment matter to Scots today? And what does it mean to be named after a historical figure that almost half of Scots have not heard of?

“When we began thinking about this, we had more questions than answers, but the survey told us we are not alone in wanting to understand more.”

A footnote first published by Mr Hume in 1753, as part of a wider essay on national characteristics, contained the view there were several races of humans, but claimed all were inferior to white Europeans.

A project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, has aimed to investigate Mr Hume’s legacy. A conference on the back of the project will be held in Edinburgh today.

Ms Murray said: “People in Scotland want to understand more about their past and how it influences their lives today. The question we have asked since the start is why did Hume write the footnote and what did it cause? We had to find out what influenced Hume to write the footnote and seek answers to questions like “did Hume know any black people?”