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|contents=Scholarly discourse on the impacts of a free press was one major contribution of the Scottish Enlightenment. The influential ideas of David Hume and Francis Hutcheson, among others, helped shape our understanding of the role of the press in politics and society. The preeminent scholars of 18th century Scotland were generally supportive of free and protected press for the sake of facilitating public discourse and maintaining a standard of public accountability for government officials and their conduct.
|contents=Adam Smith, one of the leading thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, was personally very critical of religion. “He was deeply critical of Christianity and Judaism, both because of the discriminatory views of his era, and because of his own observation of hypocrisy within Protestantism.” (Ward 43, 2004). He did however have a background of mentors who dabbled with theology. Professor Gershom Carmichael had a rational and empirical approach to religion, he was not a part of the “enthusiastic” movements that were popular in Scotland at the time.  Professor Carmichael was a professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and was the mentor of Francis Hutcheson, who became the mentor of Adam Smith (Ward 49, 2004). Francis Hutcheson argued that the reality of God could be discovered through natural theology and led an educational reform in Scotland. He taught courses in English rather than Latin , he led the University of Glasgow away from Calvinism and instead used a scientific approach to study religion, God, and morality (Ward 49, 2004). Adam Smith would eventually inherit Hutcheson’s post at the University of Glasgow and was expected to lecture on theology. While this sounds like a great place to learn about what Smith thought about theology, “at the time of his death, Smith ordered the destruction of any of his writings that, he felt, failed to offer a unique contribution to human knowledge and understanding. The fact that there is no trace of his materials on natural theology would seem to suggest that, for Smith, they were without great significance. (Ward 50, 2004). Adam Smith’s personal religious views are left to interpretation; his approach to religion is approached very scientifically.  


David Hume’s essay Of the Liberty of the Press remains one of the period’s most important works of advocacy for a free, uncensored press. Hume bases his argument in concerns about maintaining societal function and avoiding societal breakdown. In explaining the function of the press in the public arena Hume writes:
Smith was not the only Scottish Enlightenment figure will this approach to religion; “figures such as David Hume, Francis Hutcheson, and Smith seem to have resisted all established religion. They were fascinated by the scientific insights of figures such as Issac Newton and Kepler.” (Ward 49, 2004). Adam Smith’s  personal relationship with religion doesn’t mean that he avoided discussing it in his published works. In The Wealth of Nations, Smith critiques state-supported religious monopolies, especially those that must use force to enforce their monopoly.  (Griswold 396, 1997).  “When the authorized teachers of religion propagate through the great body of the people, doctrines subversive of the authority of the sovereign, it is by violence only, or by the force of a standing army, that he can maintain his authority.” (Smith 651, 1776). So, to avoid this violence, states should refrain from forcing their religious monopolies on the people. “Smith has argued that the causes of violence in connection with religion are (i) the perception by the dominant religion that assistance from the state (in the form of police powers) is available to increase the size of its flock, with all the corresponding temporal benefits; and (ii) the feelings of resentment on the part of the persecuted religions” (Griswold 409, 1997). Following this, he believes that “such a clergy, when attacked by a set of popular and bold, though perhaps stupid and ignorant enthusiasts,  feel themselves as perfectly defenseless as the indolent, effeminate, and full fed nations of the southern parts of Asia, when they were invaded by the active, hardy, and hungry Tartars of the north. Such a clergy, upon such an emergency, have commonly no other resource than to call upon the civil magistrate to persecute, destroy, or drive out their adversaries, as disturbers of the public peace.” (Smith 643, 1776). The Wealth of Nations is about, well, how nations should build their wealth. His analysis of religion in this book should be taken as his advice on how to achieve a civil society. Smith goes on to suggest that states should focus their education on science rather than religion so that people would be “less tempted to explain puzzling natural phenomena in religious terms.” (Griswold 411, 1997).


The spirit of the people must frequently be roused in order to curb the ambition of the court, and the dread of rousing this spirit must be employed to prevent that ambition. Nothing so effectual to this purpose as the liberty of the press, by which all the learning, wit, and genius of the nation may be employed on the side of freedom and everyone be animated to its defense.
Adam Smith’s view is that the state should embrace free markets, an idea analyzed in  detail in The Wealth of Nations. This leads to his general goal of creating a stable government and economy (Ward 45, 2009). While he himself doesn’t advocate religion and instead advocates science , he recognizes some areas of freedom of religion that he incorporates into Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations. He supports separation of church and state, allowing liberty of religious belief, and creating a free market of religions (Griswold 411, 1997). In The Wealth of Nations, Smith argues “In a country where the law favored the teachers of no one religion more than those of another, it would not be necessary that any of them should have any particular or immediate dependency upon the sovereign or executive power; or that he should have anything to do either in appointing or in dismissing them from their offices.” (Smith 650, 1776). Here, Smith is arguing for separation of church and state; he further argues that by allowing freedom of religion and creating a large market of religions, it will reduce the competition between different religions and improve their relationships with the state. “The teachers of each sect, seeing themselves surrounded on all sides with more adversaries than friends, would be obliged to learn that candour and moderation which are so seldom to be found among the teachers of those great sects, whose tenets, being supported by the civil magistrate, are held in veneration by almost all the inhabitants of extensive kingdoms and empires, and who, therefore, see nothing round them but followers, disciples, and humble admirers. The teachers of each little sect, finding themselves almost alone, would be obliged to respect those of almost every other sect; and the concession which they would mutually find in both convenient and agreeable to make one to another, might in time, probably reduce the doctrine of the greater part of them to that pure and rational religion, free from every mixture of absurdity, imposture, or fanaticism, such as wise men have, in all ages of the world, wished to see established…” (Smith 647, 1776). He did, however, not believe that these ideals could be achieved on their own. Smith argued that a liberal education in science was required to support these ideals. (Griswold 411, 1997). “Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition; and where all the superior ranks of people were secured from it, the inferior ranks could not be much exposed to it” (Smith 650, 1779) 


Put simply, Hume asserts that a free press helps protect against threats to liberty. When the public has open information about the conduct of their officials, citizens are better equipped to question what political behaviors actually seek to improve society. A free press therefore introduces new incentives for political behavior, and guards against infringements on freedom otherwise unknown to the public.  
Adam Smith is not the only Scottish Enlightenment figure to speak about religion; David Hume had his own opinions on religion. In his essay Of Superstition and Enthusiasm, he argues “that superstition is an enemy to civil liberty, and enthusiasm a friend to it. As superstition groans under the dominion of priests, and enthusiasm is destructive of all ecclesiastical power, this sufficiently accounts for the present observation.” (Hume 1758).  He explains that in England’s civil wars, the whigs were friends to toleration, and it was their tolerating spirit that helped to reconcile the differences between the competing Roman Catholics and other Christians. The “tolerating spirit” Hume is referring to here, can be interpreted as religious freedom.


A 2018 essay by Eckhart Hellmuth provides useful context for Hume’s work on press freedoms. The first prime minister of Great Britain, Sir Robert Walpole, instituted strict policies for publication from 1722 to 1725. According to Hellmuth, “Walpole did not limit himself to encouraging journalism that supported his policies, but went further and also tried to obstruct the opposition press” (p.106). Hume therefore developed his ideas in a political context “Where there was always a danger of the authorities exceeding their power, where permanent vigilance was required, [and] it made sense to use the press as a vehicle to balance power within the state, and this is exactly what Hume did” (Ibid., p.179). The British politics of Hume’s day exemplify the need for a free press as a check on centralized authority. However, the press serves another function within civil society at a more individual level.  
As stated earlier, Scottish Enlightenment figures tend to be highly critical of religion and tend to speak to religion in the context of creating a more civil society (Ward 49, 2004). With this context, I can hypothesize that Adam Smith supported the ideals of freedom of religion. Separation of church and state, liberty of religious belief, and a free market of religions sounds very similar to the freedom of religion in the United States. Adam Smith’s works were very influential on the founding fathers when it came to designing our government  (Smith 2004). “The Wealth of Nations was also read and discussed by those in America seeking to form a new government based on preserving “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and an economic system that could assure America of prosperity and self-sufficiency” (Smith 9, 2004). After reading through many sections of The Wealth of Nations, it is evident that the founding fathers took some examples from it about how to build and maintain a free-market economy. Knowing that they were already taking advice from Adam Smith and other Scottish Enlightenment figures about the economy and governance, it is within reason that the founding fathers took the advice of the Scottish Enlightenment figures about the relationship between church and state to ensure a civil society. By allowing freedom of religion, it should reduce competition between religions and frees the government from being stuck supporting the state-supported religion. Smith himself said that wise men wished to see these ideals established in governments, and the brand new government of the United States gave the founding fathers the opportunity to test these ideals.  


The second benefit of a free press, according to Hume, is that it helps prevent certain parts of society from becoming radicalized against their government. By facilitating open discourse about political affairs, the press provides a nonviolent opportunity for the public to air their grievances. “For Hume, consumption of the printed word was a rational act with a tempering effect. ‘A man’, he wrote, ‘reads a book or pamphlet alone and coolly. There is none present from whom he can catch the passion by contagion’” (Ibid., p.179). Here, Hume posits that a free press reduces the chances that citizens will be susceptible to the mob mentality and radicalization. This speaks to the broader theory that states who acknowledge political dissent experience less turmoil and violence than those who isolate it.


Professor of political philosophy Marc Hanvelt has focused much of his research on Hume’s views on politeness, public discourse, and the press. He agrees with Hellmuth’s points about the press tempering public sentiments in calling it “a forum for the opposition of interests (...) by deflating factional bigotry” (2012, p.627). Hanvelt also provides his analysis of Hume’s Of the Liberty of the Press, paying close attention to the differences between the original and edited versions. The essay’s original conclusion declares a more explicit support for a free press: “Through the guarantee of liberty of the press, Hume argues, 'it is to be hope, that men, being every day more accustomed to the free discussion of public affairs, will improve in the judgment of them, and be with greater difficulty seduced by every idle rumour and popular clamour’” (Ibid., p.629). The omission of this sentence from Hume’s final version does not indicate a backtracking on his belief in a free press. Instead, the edit was made in an effort to “[bring] the essay into line with his philosophically-grounded objection to unbounded liberty” (Ibid., p.630). The introduction of a free press has many benefits, but it also exposes a society to the dangers of irresponsible journalism. Hume sought to acknowledge the dangers of both extremes and to add subtly to his support for press freedoms. In Hanvelt’s view, Hume still upholds the argument that an uncensored press benefits public discourse.


While David Hume may have written the most direct commentary on the freedom of the press, he was not the only Scottish Enlightenment thinker who made contributions in that area. Francis Hutcheson is known for his work on moral philosophy, yet his theories can be applied in several ways to freedom of information and the press. A blog by the Centre for Privacy Studies in Denmark parsed the connections between morality, privacy, and modern press freedoms. According to Hutcheson, morality is dictated by what is happening around us, therefore we must be informed about the conduct or behavior of others in order to uphold common moral standards. The piece explains Hutcheson’s views on privacy by saying: “Hutcheson implies that following what is ‘natural’ or ‘nature’ is a way to achieve happiness, or else by being ‘virtuous’. (...) One could here infer, that hiding shameful vices is unnatural; so, in this sense, privacy is unnatural” (Moral Philosophy and Privacy 2020). This would be especially true with respect to the vices of government officials, which to some extent have an impact on all of society. Hutcheson also supports the use of speech in line with the common interest, suggesting that the press should be granted sufficient liberties as a medium of public speech. Furthermore, Hutcheson’s moral paradigm favors transparency, which remains one of the primary goals of a free press. The blog post paraphrases: “We must use speech with truth and fidelity in conversations otherwise we lose this advantage of social life (...) Hutcheson insists particularly on the fact that maintaining veracity in all our conversation is important to society” (Moral Philosophy and Privacy 2020). Despite not addressing the press directly, the moral philosophy of Francis Hutcheson contains theories on privacy, transparency, and truth that offer relevant insights on press freedoms.


ReferenceS:
Griswold, Charles L. “Religion and Community: Adam Smith on the Virtues of Liberty.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 35, no. 3 (1997): 395–419. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/225729.


Hanvelt, Marc. 2012. “Politeness, A Plurality of Interests and the Public Realm: Hume on the Liberty of the Press.” History of Political Thought 33 (4): 627–46.
Hume, David. Essays Moral, Political, Literary. Edited by Eugene F. Miller. 1758. Reprint, Liberty Fund Inc., 1987. https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/hume-essays-moral-political-literary-lf-ed.


Hellmuth, Eckhart. 2018. “Towards Hume – The Discourse on the Liberty of the Press in the Age of Walpole.” History of European Ideas 44 (2): 159–81.
Smith, Adam. AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. Edited by Jim Manis. Penn State Electronic Classics Series. 1776. Reprint, The Pennsylvania State University, 2005. https://www.rrojasdatabank.info/Wealth-Nations.pdf.


Hume, David. “Of the Liberty of the Press.” In Essays: moral, political, and literary, edited by Eugene F. Miller. London: Oxford University Press, 1963.  
Smith, Roy C. Adam Smith and the Origins of American Enterprise: How the Founding Fathers Turned to a Great Economist’s Writings and Created the American Economy. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2004. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Adam_Smith_and_the_Origins_of_American_E/-CIHI4m578sC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=adam+smith+and+the+founding+fathers&pg=PR9&printsec=frontcover.


“Hutcheson’s Moral Philosophy and Privacy.” 2020. Centre for Privacy Studies. April 16, 2020. https://privacy.hypotheses.org/tag/francis-hutcheson.
Ward, Thomas J. “Adam Smith’s Views on Religion and Social Justice.” International Journal on World Peace 21, no. 2 (2004): 43–62. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20753440.
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Revision as of 15:56, 29 July 2024

Freedom of Religion

What have religious and philosophical traditions contributed to our understanding of this right?

Scottish Enlightenment

Adam Smith, one of the leading thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, was personally very critical of religion. “He was deeply critical of Christianity and Judaism, both because of the discriminatory views of his era, and because of his own observation of hypocrisy within Protestantism.” (Ward 43, 2004). He did however have a background of mentors who dabbled with theology. Professor Gershom Carmichael had a rational and empirical approach to religion, he was not a part of the “enthusiastic” movements that were popular in Scotland at the time. Professor Carmichael was a professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and was the mentor of Francis Hutcheson, who became the mentor of Adam Smith (Ward 49, 2004). Francis Hutcheson argued that the reality of God could be discovered through natural theology and led an educational reform in Scotland. He taught courses in English rather than Latin , he led the University of Glasgow away from Calvinism and instead used a scientific approach to study religion, God, and morality (Ward 49, 2004). Adam Smith would eventually inherit Hutcheson’s post at the University of Glasgow and was expected to lecture on theology. While this sounds like a great place to learn about what Smith thought about theology, “at the time of his death, Smith ordered the destruction of any of his writings that, he felt, failed to offer a unique contribution to human knowledge and understanding. The fact that there is no trace of his materials on natural theology would seem to suggest that, for Smith, they were without great significance. (Ward 50, 2004). Adam Smith’s personal religious views are left to interpretation; his approach to religion is approached very scientifically.

Smith was not the only Scottish Enlightenment figure will this approach to religion; “figures such as David Hume, Francis Hutcheson, and Smith seem to have resisted all established religion. They were fascinated by the scientific insights of figures such as Issac Newton and Kepler.” (Ward 49, 2004). Adam Smith’s personal relationship with religion doesn’t mean that he avoided discussing it in his published works. In The Wealth of Nations, Smith critiques state-supported religious monopolies, especially those that must use force to enforce their monopoly. (Griswold 396, 1997). “When the authorized teachers of religion propagate through the great body of the people, doctrines subversive of the authority of the sovereign, it is by violence only, or by the force of a standing army, that he can maintain his authority.” (Smith 651, 1776). So, to avoid this violence, states should refrain from forcing their religious monopolies on the people. “Smith has argued that the causes of violence in connection with religion are (i) the perception by the dominant religion that assistance from the state (in the form of police powers) is available to increase the size of its flock, with all the corresponding temporal benefits; and (ii) the feelings of resentment on the part of the persecuted religions” (Griswold 409, 1997). Following this, he believes that “such a clergy, when attacked by a set of popular and bold, though perhaps stupid and ignorant enthusiasts, feel themselves as perfectly defenseless as the indolent, effeminate, and full fed nations of the southern parts of Asia, when they were invaded by the active, hardy, and hungry Tartars of the north. Such a clergy, upon such an emergency, have commonly no other resource than to call upon the civil magistrate to persecute, destroy, or drive out their adversaries, as disturbers of the public peace.” (Smith 643, 1776). The Wealth of Nations is about, well, how nations should build their wealth. His analysis of religion in this book should be taken as his advice on how to achieve a civil society. Smith goes on to suggest that states should focus their education on science rather than religion so that people would be “less tempted to explain puzzling natural phenomena in religious terms.” (Griswold 411, 1997).

Adam Smith’s view is that the state should embrace free markets, an idea analyzed in detail in The Wealth of Nations. This leads to his general goal of creating a stable government and economy (Ward 45, 2009). While he himself doesn’t advocate religion and instead advocates science , he recognizes some areas of freedom of religion that he incorporates into Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations. He supports separation of church and state, allowing liberty of religious belief, and creating a free market of religions (Griswold 411, 1997). In The Wealth of Nations, Smith argues “In a country where the law favored the teachers of no one religion more than those of another, it would not be necessary that any of them should have any particular or immediate dependency upon the sovereign or executive power; or that he should have anything to do either in appointing or in dismissing them from their offices.” (Smith 650, 1776). Here, Smith is arguing for separation of church and state; he further argues that by allowing freedom of religion and creating a large market of religions, it will reduce the competition between different religions and improve their relationships with the state. “The teachers of each sect, seeing themselves surrounded on all sides with more adversaries than friends, would be obliged to learn that candour and moderation which are so seldom to be found among the teachers of those great sects, whose tenets, being supported by the civil magistrate, are held in veneration by almost all the inhabitants of extensive kingdoms and empires, and who, therefore, see nothing round them but followers, disciples, and humble admirers. The teachers of each little sect, finding themselves almost alone, would be obliged to respect those of almost every other sect; and the concession which they would mutually find in both convenient and agreeable to make one to another, might in time, probably reduce the doctrine of the greater part of them to that pure and rational religion, free from every mixture of absurdity, imposture, or fanaticism, such as wise men have, in all ages of the world, wished to see established…” (Smith 647, 1776). He did, however, not believe that these ideals could be achieved on their own. Smith argued that a liberal education in science was required to support these ideals. (Griswold 411, 1997). “Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition; and where all the superior ranks of people were secured from it, the inferior ranks could not be much exposed to it” (Smith 650, 1779)

Adam Smith is not the only Scottish Enlightenment figure to speak about religion; David Hume had his own opinions on religion. In his essay Of Superstition and Enthusiasm, he argues “that superstition is an enemy to civil liberty, and enthusiasm a friend to it. As superstition groans under the dominion of priests, and enthusiasm is destructive of all ecclesiastical power, this sufficiently accounts for the present observation.” (Hume 1758). He explains that in England’s civil wars, the whigs were friends to toleration, and it was their tolerating spirit that helped to reconcile the differences between the competing Roman Catholics and other Christians. The “tolerating spirit” Hume is referring to here, can be interpreted as religious freedom.

As stated earlier, Scottish Enlightenment figures tend to be highly critical of religion and tend to speak to religion in the context of creating a more civil society (Ward 49, 2004). With this context, I can hypothesize that Adam Smith supported the ideals of freedom of religion. Separation of church and state, liberty of religious belief, and a free market of religions sounds very similar to the freedom of religion in the United States. Adam Smith’s works were very influential on the founding fathers when it came to designing our government (Smith 2004). “The Wealth of Nations was also read and discussed by those in America seeking to form a new government based on preserving “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and an economic system that could assure America of prosperity and self-sufficiency” (Smith 9, 2004). After reading through many sections of The Wealth of Nations, it is evident that the founding fathers took some examples from it about how to build and maintain a free-market economy. Knowing that they were already taking advice from Adam Smith and other Scottish Enlightenment figures about the economy and governance, it is within reason that the founding fathers took the advice of the Scottish Enlightenment figures about the relationship between church and state to ensure a civil society. By allowing freedom of religion, it should reduce competition between religions and frees the government from being stuck supporting the state-supported religion. Smith himself said that wise men wished to see these ideals established in governments, and the brand new government of the United States gave the founding fathers the opportunity to test these ideals.



Griswold, Charles L. “Religion and Community: Adam Smith on the Virtues of Liberty.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 35, no. 3 (1997): 395–419. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/225729.

Hume, David. Essays Moral, Political, Literary. Edited by Eugene F. Miller. 1758. Reprint, Liberty Fund Inc., 1987. https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/hume-essays-moral-political-literary-lf-ed.

Smith, Adam. AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. Edited by Jim Manis. Penn State Electronic Classics Series. 1776. Reprint, The Pennsylvania State University, 2005. https://www.rrojasdatabank.info/Wealth-Nations.pdf.

Smith, Roy C. Adam Smith and the Origins of American Enterprise: How the Founding Fathers Turned to a Great Economist’s Writings and Created the American Economy. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2004. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Adam_Smith_and_the_Origins_of_American_E/-CIHI4m578sC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=adam+smith+and+the+founding+fathers&pg=PR9&printsec=frontcover.

Ward, Thomas J. “Adam Smith’s Views on Religion and Social Justice.” International Journal on World Peace 21, no. 2 (2004): 43–62. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20753440.



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