Reid Thomas

Reid, Thomas (1709-96), philosopher, was born in Kincardineshire and educated at Aberdeen, where he became a professor of moral philosophy. In 1764 he succeeded Adam Smith in the chair of moral philosophy at Glasgow, and in the same year published his Inquiry into the Human Mind. He attacked Hume's sceptical theories, and invented the phrase "common sense." His Essays on the Intellectual and Active Powers of Man appeared in 1785-88. Dugald Stewart (q.v.) wrote his life, and his works have often been collected and discussed.