Thomas Gordon

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1714-1797) was a Scottish philosopher, mathematician and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

. He was Professor of Humanity at

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Aberdonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univer ...

. He was a co-founder of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1783.

Life

He was the son of Prof. George Gordon, Professor of Hebrew at King's College in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. His grandfather, also George Gordon was Principal of the College in 1684. Thomas attended

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, graduating MA in 1731. He thereafter held various positions at the College from Regent to Professor of Greek and Philosophy. He was a member of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society from 1758 to 1773, and was one of the most active members of the Society, serving as secretary from 1761 - 1764 and again from 1767 - 1771. Here he debated with its founders Prof John Gregory, Prof Robert Trail and Dr David Skene, and other members such as Prof Alexander Gerard. He taught Robert Eden Scott (1770-1811) (later Prof R E Scott), his grandson, at the College. He died on 11 March 1797.

Family

His second daughter Margaret died in 1797. His daughter Anna married Rev. Andrew Brown (d.1805). His daughter Elizabeth was the mother of Robert Eden Scott.

References

1714 births 1797 deaths Founder fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 18th-century Scottish male writers Academics of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Aberdeen People from Aberdeen Philosophers of mind Philosophers of religion Scottish essayists 18th-century Scottish philosophers 18th-century Scottish essayists {{reli-philo-bio-stub