Abstract

The aims of this paper are twofold. First, we draw attention to the contributions that Catharine Trotter Cockburn and her niece Anne Hepburn Arbuthnot made to Scottish Enlightenment philosophy and argue on these grounds that they should be acknowledged as Scottish philosophers. Second, we highlight how Cockburn and Arbuthnot, who, like other women of their day, were excluded from attending universities created spaces for learning outside institutional settings. Cockburn’s parents and husband were Scottish and she lived in Scotland from 1726 until sometime between 1738 and 1740. Arbuthnot lived in Scotland for her entire life. Cockburn prepared her Remarks upon some Writers during the years that she spent in Scotland. We argue that her moral views share sufficient common ground with other Scottish writings that her Remarks upon some Writers deserves to be recognized as contributing to the moral debates in Scotland and beyond. The only extant writings by Arbuthnot that we are aware of are her correspondence with Cockburn and with the Scottish philosopher James Beattie. Based on a close analysis of Cockburn’s and Arbuthnot’s correspondence, we show that both women had detailed familiarity with the philosophical debates of their day. Furthermore, we highlight Arbuthnot’s own independent philosophical thinking.