James Balfour of Pilrig JP (20 August 1705 – 6 March 1795) was a Scottish advocate and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Life

He was born on 20 August 1705 at

Pilrig Pilrig is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The name probably derives from the long field (rig) on which a peel tower (pil/peel) stood. There is evidence of a peel tower situated on an area of higher ground above the Water of ...

House, midway between

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He was one of the 16 children of Louisa Hamilton and her husband, James Balfour (1681–1737). His father had acquired the estate of Pilrig from the Gilbert family, which had lost a fortune in the

Darien Expedition The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing ''New Caledonia'', a colony on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The plan was for the co ...

. His father built the current Pilrig House around 1705. After studying law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and the

University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

, he was called to the Scottish bar as an advocate. He held the offices of treasurer to the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constitu ...

and sheriff-substitute of the county of Edinburgh. In 1754 he was appointed to the chair of Professor of Moral Philosophy in the

, and in 1764 transferred to that of Professor of Public Law. In 1775 he is still listed as living in Pilrig House, having inherited the property on the death of his father. He was Secretary to the Edinburgh Company of Golfers, and belonged to both the Edinburgh and Leith Golf Courses. In this role he would have been involved in the establishment of the original rules of golf in 1777. He died on 6 March 1795. He is buried in the graveyard of

South Leith Parish Church South Leith Parish Church, originally the Kirk of Our Lady, St Mary, is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. It is the principal church and congregation in Leith, in Edinburgh. Its kirkyard is the burial place for John Home (author of ''D ...

Works

He was the author of three philosophical books: * ''A Delineation of the Nature and Obligation of Morality, with Reflexions upon Mr. Hume's book entitled'' An Inquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. This book was published anonymously, the first edition in 1753, the second in 1763. * ''Philosophical Essays'', published anonymously in 1768. * ''Philosophical Dissertations'', published in 1782 under the author's name.

James McCosh James McCosh (April 1, 1811 – November 16, 1894) was a philosopher of the Scottish School of Common Sense. He was president of Princeton University 1868–88. Biography McCosh was born into a Covenanting family in Ayrshire, and ...

, in his work on the ''Scottish Philosophy'', says of him:

He sets out (in his "Delineation") with the principle that private happiness must be the chief end and object of every man's pursuit; shows how the good of others affords the greatest happiness; and then, to sanction natural conscience, he calls in the authority of
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
, who must approve of what promotes the greatest happiness. This theory does not give morality 'a sufficiently deep foundation in the constitution of man on the character of God, and could not have stood against the assaults of Hume. ... In his "Philosophical Essays" he wrote against Hume and Lord Kaimes, and in defence of active power and liberty. Like all active opponents of the new
scepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...
he felt it necessary to oppose the favourite theory of Locke, that all our ideas are derived from sensation and reflexion.

Family

In 1737 he married Cecilia Helen Elphinstone (1705–1780), daughter of Sir

John Elphinstone John Elphinstone, also known as John Elphinston (1722 – 28 February 1785), was a senior British naval officer who worked closely with the Russian Navy after 1770, with approval from the Admiralty, during the period of naval reform under Russi ...

. They had one daughter, Mary Cecelia, and three sons, James, John, and Lewis. Mary married William Gibson and was mother to

James Gibson-Craig Sir James Gibson-Craig, 1st Baronet (1765–1850) was a Scottish lawyer and government official. In politics he was a Foxite Whig. In early life he was known as James Gibson of Ingleston. He was created a baronet in the Baronetage of the United Ki ...

who was created a baronet in 1831. His brother Robert Balfour (born 1706) was a local entrepreneur, running a soapworks in

and operating a stagecoach from

to Leith. Balfour's mother was a Miss Hamilton, of Airdrie, great-grandaunt of the late

Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet FRSE (8 March 1788 – 6 May 1856) was a Scottish metaphysician. He is often referred to as William Stirling Hamilton of Preston, in reference to his mother, Elizabeth Stirling. Early life He was born in ...

, professor of logic and metaphysics in the University of Edinburgh 1836–1856. His eldest sister married Gavin Hamilton, bookseller and publisher in Edinburgh (also, it is believed, a member of the Airdrie family), whose eldest son was Robert Hamilton, professor of mathematics in Marischal College and University, Aberdeen, author of a treatise on the national debt. The brothers

George William Balfour George William Balfour FRSE (2 June 1823 – 9 August 1903) was a Scottish physician, known as a heart specialist. Early life and education Born at the manse of Sorn, Ayrshire, on 2 June 1823, he was the sixth son and eighth of the thirteen c ...

and James Balfour were great-grandsons, the former a heart specialist in Scotland, and the latter a marine engineer in New Zealand. He was the grandfather to Rev

Lewis Balfour Lewis Balfour (1777–1860) was a Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland. He was a pivotal figure in the family life of Robert Louis Stevenson. Life He was born on 30 August 1777 at Pilrig House between Edinburgh and Leith, the son of ...

and the great-great-grandfather of

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

. It is noteworthy that Stevenson's christened name was Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson, in deference to his ancestral family. His grandson Elphinstone Balfour was a bookseller on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

. His granddaughter Margaret Balfour married Rev John Paul, minister of

St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh The Parish Church of St Cuthbert is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in central Edinburgh. Probably founded in the 7th century, the church once covered an extensive parish around the burgh of Edinburgh. The church's current building was ...

and

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states th ...

in 1847. In 1737 his sister Bridget Balfour (d.1764) married Rev Neil McVicar, minister of

. In 1750 his niece Helen Balfour, married rev Thomas Scott, minister of

.Fasti Ecclesiastae Scoticana by Hew Scott

Life

Works

Family

References

Further reading