Observations Upon Liberal Education, in All Its Branches - (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics) by George Turnbull (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Originally published in 1742, Observations upon Liberal Education is a significant contribution to the Scottish Enlightenment and the moral-sense school of Scottish philosophy.

In Observations, Turnbull applies the ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment to the education of youth. He shows how a liberal education fosters true "inward liberty" and moral strength and thus prepares us for responsible and happy lives in a free society.

George Turnbull (1698-1748) taught at Marischal College, Aberdeen.

Terrence O. Moore, Jr., is Principal of Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins, Colorado, and was formerly Assistant Professor of History at Ashland University in Ohio.

Review Quotes

"Moore (he earned a PhD in history at the U. of Edinburgh and is now the principal of a classical high school in Colorado) has written a lengthy introduction to the central work of the Scottish Enlightenment thinker George Turnbull (d.1748), who was an influence on the thought of Benjamin Franklin. The annotation is devoted mainly to explaining Turnbull's many classical allusions and quotations."

Reference & Research Book News
August 2003

"George Turnbull's Observations on Liberal Education was one of a handful of books that Benjamin Franklin identified as influential upon his own educational theory and practice. For that reason alone, the appearance of the first modern edition of Turnbull's Observations is welcome. And welcome, indeed, is this high quality and elegant edition in Liberty Fund's Natural Law and Enlightenment Series."

Eighteenth-Century Scotland

"An inexpensive and accessible edition of Turnbull's influential essay on the content and aims of a liberal education."

Journal of Scottish Philosophy