Genius Fan

No-one knows who David Hume is these days. He’s only the greatest philosopher ever to have written in English, that’s who. His mausoleum can be found in the Old Calton Cemetery, Edinburgh, and I went there recently to see his burial place; a man who I think was absolutely AMAZING. I formed that opinion of him after reading Dennis Rasmussen’s book The Infidel and the Professor and became captivated by Hume (the infidel, as well as Adam Smith, the professor). Hume was convivial: he was loved by a wide circle of friends, even some of those enraged by his writings about religion. He was a man to respect: Adam Smith wrote that he was “nearly the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man”. He was a gourmet: he stood at the stove and cooked. He did things in moderation: an early experience of intense work left him with a nervous breakdown that took several years to recover from. The Greats of the French Enlightenment (the philosophes) loved him: They called him ‘Le Bon David’. The ladies of the French Enlightenment salons loved him: he was quite taken with their attentions, yet never married. He was fearless: he maintained his disbelief in an afterlife, right up to his own death, when so many expected him to call for a minister at the last minute. I have a picture of him (the popular Allan Ramsay portrait of 1766) on the wall opposite my work station and I see him every day. He’s inspiring. His life story is amazing to read.

His mausoleum is a large round tower, somewhat understated despite its size, and with family inscriptions added in the 19th century. The structure was designed by his architect friend Robert Adam and erected in 1778, two years after Hume’s death on 25 August, 1776. It’s a little adventure to explore the cemetery and locate the tomb by its appearance without using the signage. It had fallen into some disrepair over the years, but in 2011, to mark the 300th anniversary of Hume’s birth in 1711, the mausoleum was restored to its original appearance with donations from a range of organisations including Edinburgh City Council and Edinburgh World Heritage. There really is so much to see in Edinburgh, but if you find yourself in the city make time to visit the cemetery and pay your respects to one of Scotland’s mightiest minds.

Notes
The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought, Dennis Rasmussen (2019)